MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Washington State women's and men's cross country programs were in action Friday at the Pac-12 Championships, running at the Ash Creek Preserve course.
WSU MEN
The men's squad, currently ranked 10th in the west region, finished sixth overall Friday morning, totaling 204 points.
Senior
Reid Muller led the WSU men, finishing 39th overall with a time of 24:06.3. Just behind Muller was fellow Cougar
Matthew Watkins who placed 40th overall with a time of 24:06.8.
Justin Janke and
Zach Stallings were not too far behind Watkins as Janke finished 43rd with a time of 24:09.6, and Stallings placed 48th overall at 24:25.3. Round of the remaining Cougars was
Cameron Dean in 52nd (24:38.1),
Colton Johnsen in 57th (24:48.5),
Sam Griffith finishing 60th (24:55.7), and
Jacob Nicholson placing 62nd overall (24:58.5). Sophomore
Amir Ado led Washington State for most of the race, but unfortunately recorded a DNF due to cramping.
Colorado finished first overall as a team with 41 points, followed by the Oregon Ducks with 57 points, and finally in third was Stanford with 69 total points.
"In the best cross country conference in the nation, we finished about where we were ranked going into the meet (which featured five teams ranked in the top 15 in the nation)," head coach
Wayne Phipps discussed. "We were in the mix until about halfway when Amir dropped out due to cramping. It's tough to rebound from that mid-race, but I thought the guys did a great job of refocusing and battling until the finish."
WSU WOMEN
The Washington State women's program, combined for 250 points in the race, finishing 10th overall at the Pac-12 Championships.
Sophomore
Zorana Grujic anchored WSU on the women's side, finishing 35th overall with a time of 20:44.5. Crossing the finish line shortly after was
Erin Mullins at 20:56.4, and then
Josie Brown in 52nd overall with a time of 21:02.2.
Kaili Keefe (21:17.8) and
Natalie Ackerley (21:18.7) placed 67th and 68th respectively, and
Jelena Grujic finished 78th overall at 21:23.1. Round out the remaining WSU squad was
Melissa Hruska in 80th (21:23.9),
Marie Gaudin in 101st (22:36.3), and then
Desi Stinger placing 102nd (22:38.2)
Stanford claimed the top prize as a team with 27 total points, with Washington in second at 55 points, and the Utes of Utah finished third with 86 points overall.
"Our women's team had a solid improvement from Wisconsin as our gap from one-to-five was much better," Phipps said. "We are taking steps in the right direction and we are excited to run our best race of the season in two weeks at home at the NCAA West Regional."
INTO THE TWITTER-VERSE
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
The Cougars will now look ahead to the NCAA West Regionals, Friday, Nov. 15. Washington State is looking to make a statement as the Cougars will be hosting this year's west regional competition at the Colfax Golf Club as well.
