LAKEWOOD, Wash. – Both the men and women's teams placed on Saturday morning's invitational as each team showed their pedigree to perform at the first meet of the season. The men's team finished 4
th with 97 points and the women's finished 6
th with 182 points.
QUOTING HEAD COACH JON HILL
Head coach Hill spoke about the 'Cats opening meet.
"Our women started out today and set the tone for the season with a terrific effort. We were on this course last year, and while our expectations for the group have gone up, our performances exceeded even the new standards for performance. Led by
Payton Conover today, we've got an incredibly dynamic top five. Beatrice had a great day and is fit as ever while freshman teammates, Helayna, Hannah, and Julie rounded out the scoring five."
"Our men are a whole different team in personnel, look and feel. We finished fourth of 12 college teams, behind strong local schools, Portland and Western Washington. Johan ran with the leaders and finished sixth while Ramon rounded out the top 10 finishers in his debut on American soil. Will had a nice day, and he knows he'll need to stay composed to finish where he can. This group is adamant about bringing respect back to this program and they did their job today."
RACE RESULTS
Conover led the way for CWU finishing with a 14:32.4 placing 41
st and teammate
Beatrice Le Gore finished with a 14:51.4. placing 53
rd. Three freshman,
Helayna Bonilla,
Hannah Pidduck, and
Julie Johnson rounded out the top five for CWU. A relatively young and inexperienced squad had a great performance today and will be looking to build off it going forward.
Johan Correa led the Wildcats finishing sixth in the 6k with a 17:24.6, and
Ramon Rodriguez finished close behind in 10
th place with a 17:43.2.
Will McGonigal finished 22
nd with a 18.11.8 and represented the third-place spot for Central Washington.
Luke Hurd and
Max Hutton rounded out the top five performers for the 'Cats. This competitive team will be looking to continue their momentum and secure wins in the near future.
UP NEXT
The Crimson and Black travel to Tacoma, Washington next as they will compete at the Pacific Lutheran Invitational on Sept. 21 at 11:00 a.m. Make sure to come out and support your Wildcats as this will be their second meet of the season.
