Monmouth, Ore. - Early season competition resumed for the Central Washington University cross country team as it competed at the Sundowner Invitational. The Wildcats got a preview of the NCAA Regional Course that they will compete on in November.
Conditions were absolutely excellent for the Sundowner Invitational. At the sound of the starter's gun, Monmouth touted a temperature of 69 degrees with very little wind. The conditions combined with a fast race course to provide excellent early season results for the Wildcats.
The Wildcat men ran their first 8k race of the season. Trevor Allen proved to be the leader of the 'Cat pack, hustling to a ninth place finish in Friday's race. Allen completed the course in 25:06.0. The performance proved promising for the NCAA Regionals to be held at the same course in November.
"That was a big breakout for Trevor [Allen]," CWU Head Coach Kevin Adkisson said. "He's been doing a great job building himself and really setting some challenging goals that a carry through from what he did in track. The time he ran today was probably something we weren't even looking for until a little later in the season. So we are very pleased with what he did tonight."
Pack is the appropriate word to describe how the Wildcat men ran at the Sundowner Invitational. Henry Milodragovich was the team's next best finisher with a time of 26:06.8. The time was good enough for a 39th place finish. Just one spot behind the Seattle Native was Rajesh Gill. Gill ran the course in 26:12.4. One spot behind Gill was Donovan Barnhart. Everette High School's Barnhart clocked a 26:13.5.
The last of the point scorer's was Garrett Hough. Hough, who calls Dana Point, California his hometown, wasn't far off from his teammates. He took 43rd with a time of 26:16.6.
As a team, the men took sixth place with a total of 155 points.
"The drawback to Trevor's big day was a quite a gap between him and our next scorer," Coach Adkisson added. "It was a real solid grouping with our scorer's. Those were very good and encouraging times for those guys."
Molly Mattson was the the top-finisher for the Wildcat women. The Sophomore out of Selah, Washington ran the 6k race in 23:26.0. The time was good enough for a 15th place finish. Lily Tyrrell also earned a top 20 finish for the Wildcats. Tyrrell took 20th with a time of 23:34.9. Newcomer Ashley Arreola had a nice performance for her team. A time of 23:58.7 earned the Eastern Washington transfer a 33rd place finish.
"Molly [Mattson] did a great job of building her pace throughout the race," Coach Adkisson stated. "Especially with today being our first full length race. Lily [Tyrrell] was great in terms of keeping Molly close. Ashley [Arreola] rallied and had a much better race this week than she did at Apple Ridge."
Caitlin Gohr and Kristina Ihlen rounded out the runners who recorded scores for the Wildcats. Gohr took 41st with a time of 24:21.0 while Ihlen finished one spot behind with a time of 24:22.3.
The women collected 149 points. The total was good enough for a sixth-place finish.
The Wildcats stay in-state next weekend at the Ken Garland Classic hosted by Saint Martin's. The meet takes place in Lacey, Washington and starts at 9:30 a.m.
