SEATTLE -- It was déjà vu all over again for the Cougars cross country teams. Junior Michael Williams led the Washington State men to the team title with his runner-up finish Saturday at the 25th Annual Sundodger Invitational Cross Country meet at Lincoln Park in Seattle. This was the second-straight year Williams has finished as the runner-up and the third consecutive year the Cougar men's team, receiving votes in the national rankings, has defeated the nationally-ranked Huskies at this meet. It was also the second year the Cougar women's team was runner-up in this early season meet.
 
Men's team scores were: Washington State 24, No. 8 Washington 40, Seattle U 99, Fresno State 101, and Portland State 121. The women's team scores were: No. 11 Washington 18, Washington State 67, Hawai'i 99, Seattle U 102, Portland State 131, and Fresno State 140.
 
Williams, from Richland, Wash., ran the men's Invitational 8,000m course in a time of 23 minutes 41.4 seconds, behind Washington's Colby Gilbert's winning time of 23:38.7. Senior John Whelan (Etna, Calif.), running unattached, finished fourth in a time of 24:00.3. The next six finishers were Cougars: Sam Levora (junior, Sandpoint, Idaho) fifth (24:03.4), Chandler Teigen (sophomore, Anatone, Wash.) sixth (24:09.2), Nathan Wadhwani (sophomore, Maple Ridge, B.C.) seventh (24:12.0), Nathan Tadesse (sophomore, Surrey, B.C.) eighth (24:18.4), Justin Janke (freshman, Spokane, Wash.) ninth (24:20.5), and Paul Ryan (sophomore, Moscow, Idaho) 10th (24:22.8).
 
Other Cougar men racing Saturday and their finishes: Jackson Haselnus (redshirt junior, Gresham, Ore.) 13th (24:41.9), Jake Finney (sophomore, Post Falls, Idaho) 18th (24:49.4), Reid Muller (sophomore, Pitt Meadows, B.C.) 19th (24:50.2), Kyler Little (sophomore, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 20th (24:57.5), Isaac Wadhwani (freshman, Maple Ridge, B.C.) 25th (25:14.9), Cameron Dean (freshman, Spokane, Wash.) 37th (25:53.1), and Alex Simpson (senior, Asotin, Wash.) 39th (25:54.0). Also running unattached, Andrew Cooper (freshman, Issaquah, Wash.), had a time of 25:24.7 (30th).
 
WSU junior, Devon Bortfeld (Sammamish, Wash.), finished 12th in the women's 6000m Invitational race in a time of 21:11.2, followed by Morgan Willson (senior, Colfax, Wash.) who finished 13th in a time of 21:31.5. Other Cougar women scoring Saturday were: Morgan Lash (freshman, Anchorage, Alaska) 18th (22:04.3), Melissa Hruska (freshman, Snoqualmie, Wash.) 19th (22:12.7), and Josie Brown (sophomore, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 25th (22:23.3).
 
Other Cougars competing Saturday and their finishes were: Desi Stinger (freshman, Temecula, Calif.) 26th (22:27.3), Tracy Myers (redshirt freshman, Beamsville, Ontario, Canada) 32nd (22:44.2), Katherine Dittmann (sophomore, Snohomish, Wash.) 35th (22:51.3), Marie Gaudin (freshman, Arlington, Wash.) 38th (23:04.8). Alexis Redfield (freshman, Zillah, Wash.) 39th (23:10.4), and Steffie Pavey (senior, Oldtown, Idaho) 48th (23:55.6).
 
Washington's Charlotte Prouse and Katie Knight both finished in a time of 20:18.5 with Prouse declared the winner.
 
"We had a great meet in both sides!" WSU Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Wayne Phipps said. "Coming off of our highest volume week of the year, Devon and Morgan Willson did a fantastic job of leading a very young team. Freshmen Morgan Lash and Melissa Hruska were great in their very first 6k. This team has a very bright future. Again, coming off of our highest volume week of the year, the men ran a very smart controlled race. We were able to run a lot quicker than last year with a lot less effort, so it was exactly as we had hoped and planned. This was also without our usual number one runner, John Whelan. It is exciting to think of what this team can accomplish this year."
 
The next race for the Cougar harriers will be October 1 at the Washington Invitational at Jefferson Park Golf Course in Seattle.