With Faye Hutchison placing third for the women and Lars Tysver running 14th for the men, the Whitman cross country teams opened their season Saturday at the Spokane Harrier Classic on the Whitworth College campus.
Whitman was one of four teams that competed in the small school portion of the event. There was separate scoring for the three NCAA Div. I schools -- Washington State, Gonzaga and the University of Idaho.
Hutchison, a senior, finished third in the small-school scoring with a time of 16 minutes, 27 seconds for the 4,000 meters. Devin Huck of the Community Colleges of Spokane won the race in 15:55.
As a team, the Whitman women placed second among the four smaller schools. The Community Colleges of Spokane took first with 23 points, followed by Whitman with 67 points, Whitworth with 68 and North Idaho College with 84.
Tysver, a sophomore, placed 14th in the men's small-school scoring with a time of 23:41 for the 6,000 meters. James Berry of the Community Colleges of Spokane won the men's event in 21:45.
The Whitman men placed third in their team scoring with 110 points. The Community Colleges of Spokane was first with 20 points, while North Idaho College was second with 35 points. Whitworth placed fourth with 124 points.
Whitman coach Carol Feezell said her runners have been hampered in their early training by the 100 degree weather that has plagued Walla Walla for the past few weeks. The heat played less of a factor in Saturday's races, which started before the afternoon heat set in.
While the racers escaped the heat, they could not escape a course layout that Feezell described as narrow and slow. "It was difficult to pass and the surface was soft dirt that slowed down our times."
Despite the slower times, Whitman was able to achieve what Feezell called her biggest goal, beating conference rival Whitworth in the men's and women's team scoring.
Rounding out the top five runners for the Whitman women were Heather Koertje, 14th, 17:28; Taylor Dale, 16th, 17:33.5; Amanda Havens, 18th, 17:52; and Megan Hunter, 22nd, 18:09.5.
The men's top five included Dustin Moon, 18th, 24:03; Hossein Baghdadi, 24th, 24:36; Dan Moore, 28th, 25:15; and Sean Menton, 35th, 25:39.
Feezell said she also was pleased with the performance of freshman Jamin Asay, who finished 37th in a time of 25:46. Dean Chuang, another Whitman freshman, finished 45th in a time of 28:40.
Other women running for the Missionaries were Kitty Rasmussen, who was 23rd in 18:11; Piper Foster, who placed 25th in 18:25; and Carol Morse, who was 33rd in 19:31.
The men's and women's cross country teams raced to victory over a pair of opponents in the small-school portion of the University of Idaho Invitational in Moscow, Idaho.
The Missionary women bettered Whitworth for the second consecutive week by a score of 27-32, in addition to posting a victory over an incomplete team from Lewis-Clark State College.
Meanwhile, the Whitman men also edged Whitworth by a count of 25-30 and downed Lewis-Clark State 24-32.
A number of NCAA Division I schools also competed in Friday's invitational, although separate scores were kept for those team.
The women's 4-kilometer race was won by Melinda Campbell of Boise State University in a time of 14:20.19. Faye Hutchison once again led the Whitman women, placing 21st in a time of 16:01.04.
The men's four-mile race was won by Tom Carey of Boise State in 20:02.68. Lars Tysver led the Missionary men, finishing 23rd overall in 22:07.59.
"This is the best I've seen the men's team in the three years I've been here," said Whitman coach Carol Feezell. "They are working so well as a team. It is great to see."
Other Whitman men's runners were Dustin Moon, 31st, 22:43.70; Dan Moore, 43rd, 23:32.92; Hossein Baghdadi, 47th, 23:58.41; Joel Byersdorfer, 55th, 25:18.85; Jamin Asay, 56th, 25:52.21; and Dean Chuang, 59th, 28:50.32.
Besides Hutchison, other women's finishers for Whitman were Taylor Dale, 31st, 16:28.59; Heather Koertje, 40th, 16:50.38; Elisa Bobnes, 46th, 17:03.52; Kitty Rasmussen, 47th, 17:10.28; Amanda Havens, 49th, 17:23.96; Piper Foster, 50th, 17:31.80; Carol Morse, 58th, 18:19.12; Beth Bray, 61st, 18:38.00; and Sarah Neeri, 64th, 19:07.04.
"The course was very hilly but my women used it to their advantage," Feezell said. "On almost every hill one of my women made a pass. I am very pleased with our team so far, especially with our attitude."
Whitman runners fared well at the Big Cross Invitational in Pasco Saturday. The women beat conference rivals Whitworth, Linfield, George Fox, Lewis & Clark and Pacific, placing seventh among 16 teams. The Whitman men outran conference rivals Pacific and Whitworth.
Faye Hutchison paced the Whitman women, finishing 15th in a time of 19 minutes, 53 seconds for the 5,000 meters. Maree George of Pacific Lutheran won the race in 18:42.
Ryan Pauling of PLU won the men's 8,000 meters in 25:19. Lars Tysver led Whitman, placing 66th with a time of 28:44.
Four Whitman men finished with times under 30 minute, an early-season feat that pleased coach Carol Feezell. "The 8K was tough on them, but they ran really well," Feezell said. "At this point in the season we focus on the individual times rather than the team points, so I was happy with our performance."
Also placing for the Whitman men were Dustin Moon, 76th, 29:04; Hossein Baghdadi, 82nd, 29:14; Dan Moore, 96th, 20:35.66; Keli'i Kotubetey, 103rd, 31:05; Joel Byersdorfer, 104, 31:15; Jamin Asay, 112th, 34:13; and Dean Chuang, 115th, 36:04.
Other finishers for the Whitman women were Heather Koertje, 36th, 20:36; Elisa Bohnes, 46th, 20:52; Kitty Rasmussen, 55th, 21:11.80; Amanda Havens, 56th, 21:15; Piper Foster, 80th, 21:55; Carol Morse, 99th, 23:21; Beth Bray, 100th, 23:33; and Sarah Nerri, 104th, 23:52.
"It was a very crowded race, which slowed down our times a little bit," said Feezell. "We raced very well, though, and I am excited about what we have accomplished so far."
Running in their first and only home meet of the season, the men's and women's cross country teams registered strong performances against Lewis-Clark State College and Eastern Oregon University at Ft. Walla Walla Park Saturday morning.
Faye Hutchison once again paced the Whitman women by placing second in the 5,000 meters in a time of 19:09.03, just one second behind the winner, Jennifer Rea of Lewis-Clark State College. Rea's time was 19:08.27. Whitman's top five runners all finished within 90 seconds of the leader.
The Missionary women "ran really well as a team," said coach Carol Feezell. "It was so exciting to see. I received great performances from all of my runners."
Whitman was a decisive winner in the women's team scoring with 28 points. Eastern Oregon was second with 58 points. Lewis-Clark State was a close third with 60 points.
Hutchison was one of five Whitman women to finish in the top ten. Heather Koertje was fourth in 19:17.81; Elisa Bobnes placed sixth in 19:20.44; Kitty Rasmussen took seventh in 19:42.21; and Amanda Havens was ninth in 20:24.83. Also placing were Piper Foster, 15th, 21:11.32; Carol Morse, 17th, 22:15.25; Beth Bray, 18th, 22:16.90; and Sarah Neeri, 19th, 22:19.10.
In the men's team scoring, Eastern Oregon edged Whitman 48 to 53. Lewis-Clark State did not field a full men's team.
Lars Tysver led the Whitman men, finishing fifth in the 8,000 meters in 27:07.41. James Longoria, running unattached, won the race in 25:33.
Also placing for the Whitman men were Dustin Moon, 8th, 27:48.48; Dan Moore, 11th, 28:26.61; Keli'i Kotubetay, 14th, 30:09.67; Joel Byersdorfer 15th, 30:10.18; Jamin Asay 17th, 31:23.38; and Dean Chuang, 19th, 33:25.30.
Whitman's Hossein Baghdadi was forced to drop out of the race by dizziness. "I was really dissapointed for Hossein, but not in him," said Feezell. "He felt like he let the team down, but he really didn't. He was feeling light-headed and did the right thing by dropping out."
Competing Saturday in the Willamette University Invitational, which billed itself as the largest collegiate meet in the western United States, the Whitman College women turned in another strong effort, finishing tenth out of 27 teams.
Heather Koertje paced the Missionary women with a time of 19:25.63, placing 37th in the 5,000-meter race. Janet Roller, who ran unattached, won the race in 17:39.17.
Close behind Koertje were teammates Kitty Rasmussen, 41st, 19:28.92; Elisa Bobnes, 52nd, 19:39.54; Faye Hutchison, 74th, 19:59.63; Amanda Havens, 108th, 20:52.05; Piper Foster, 111th, 20:53.27; Carol Morse, 137th, 21:55.44; and Beth Bray, 150th, 22:09.05.
The Whitman men did not place nearly as well as a team in the 8,000 meters, although coach Carol Feezell was pleased that her male runners continued to lower their individual times and stay positive.
Whitman's Lars Tysver placed 85th in the huge field in a time of 27:23.49. "That was a great time for Lars on a course that was actually 150 meters too long," Feezell said. Dave Davis of UPS won the mens race with a time of 25:05.82.
Other finishers for the men were Dustin Moon, 155th, 29:22.09; Dan Moore, 29:36.15; Hossein Baghdadi, 160th, 29:37.16; Keli'i Kotubetay, 171st, 30:34.70; Joel Byersdorfer, 172nd, 30:41.22; and Jamin Asay, 182nd, 31:50.75.
The Whitman men finished with 730 points, which placed them ahead of six other schools involved in the race.
Three members of the men's cross country team clocked personal-best times as Whitman runners competed in the Pacific Lutheran University Invitational at Ft. Steilacoom Park on Saturday. Most teams in the Northwest Conference competed in the meet because the conference championships will be held later this month on the same course.
Whitman's Lars Tysver finished the 8,000 meters in a season-best time of 26:45, which placed him 28th in a field of 112 runners. Teammate Keli'i Kotubetay grabbed his best time of the year, finishing 76th in 28:36.2. Missionary freshman Dean Chuang's time of 32:59.3 also was his best time of the season.
Others placing for the Whitman men were Dustin Moon, 60th, 28:05.5; Dan Moore, 72nd, 28:30.1; and Joel Byersdorfer, 96th, 30:33.5.
Dave Davis of the University of Puget Sound won the men's race in 24:38.2. Puget Sound placed first in the team scoring with 45 points, 10 points ahead of Pacific Lutheran University. The Whitman men placed sixth, 10 points behind Whitworth.
In the women's 5,000 meters, Whitman placed fifth in the team scoring with 129 points, just behind fourth-place Whitworth (112) and third-place Linfield (106). Pacific Lutheran won the women's team competition with 60 points. Puget Sound was second with 78 points.
Heather Koertje paced the Missionaries, placing 14th in 19:34.2 in a field of 90 runners. Elisa Bobnes finished right on her heels in 16th place in 19:37.2.
Also running for the Whitman women were Kitty Rasmussen, 24th, 19:53.9; Faye Hutchison, 42nd, 20:37.9; Amanda Havens, 51st, 20:58.4; Piper Foster, 61st, 21:39.8; Beth Bray, 71st, 22:29.4; and Sarah Neeri, 76th, 22:58.9. Heidi Guilberson of Bellevue Community College won the race in 18:14.8
"I felt both of our teams did very well," said Whitman coach Carol Feezell. "They were running tired, but they ran very tough. We will begin tapering our workouts now as we prepare for the conference championships."
The Whitman women raced to victory and the men finished second Saturday in the Lewis-Clark State College Invitational in Lewiston, Idaho.
Setting the pace for the Whitman women was Elisa Bobnes, who placed sixth in a field of 30 runners with a time of 19:41. Close on her heels were teammates Heather Koertje, seventh, 19:43; Kitty Rasmussen, eighth, 19:48; and Megan Hunter, 10th, 20:28.
Teresa Viebrock of North Idaho College won the women's 5,000 meters in 19:12.
Whitman placed first in the women's team standings with 39 points for its top five finishers. North Idaho College was second with 46 points, while Lewis-Clark State was third with 63 points.
Other finishers for the Whitman women were Piper Foster, 20th, 22:21; Carol Morse, 21st, 22:43; Beth Bray, 23rd, 22:56; and Sarah Neeri, 24th, 23:01.
Lars Tysver placed fifth for the Whitman men in the 8,000 meters with a time of 27:39.5. Also running for the Missionaries were Dustin Moon, 21st, 28:39; Dan Moore, 25th, 29:06; Keli'i Kotubetay, 28th, 29:10; Hossein Baghdadi, 31st 29:28; Joel Byersdorfer 47th, 31:39; Jamin Assay, 51st, 33:12; and Dean Chuang, 54th, 34:04.
Alexander Tornas of North Idaho College won the men's race in 26:49.9. North Idaho College was an easy winner in the men's team competition with 19 points. Whitman was a distant second with 76 points, while the Community Colleges of Spokane placed third with 85 points.
"Both of our teams raced very well today," said Whitman coach Carol Feezell. "We will have one more, very short race next weekend, and we will then focus entirely on the conference finals."
The Whitman cross country teams made their final preparations for next week's Northwest Conference championships by competing in a short run Saturday afternoon in La Grande.
The race, which was made optional by Whitman coach Carol Feezell, was 6,400 meters for the men and 3,0000 meters for the women. Several Whitman runners opted to participate.
Lars Tysver led the Whitman men with a time of 22:05.2, placing tenth overall.
Others running in the men's race were Dan Moore, 13th, 23:10.5; Keli`i Kotubetay, 16th, 23:37.2; Hossein Baghdadi, 20th, 25:25.0; Joel Byersdorfer, 21st, 25:55.0; Dean Chuang, 22nd, 26:42.6; and Jamin Asay, 23rd, 27:43.1.
Megan Hunter, who has missed most of the season with a stress fracture, led the Whitman women by placing seventh in a time of 12:02.0.
Also running were Piper Foster, 11th, 12:47.4; Beth Bray, 12:54.5; and Carol Morse, 15th, 13:00.9.
"We were running pretty tired today," Feezell said. "We will be resting more this week in preparation for the conference finals on Halloween day."
Whitman's Elisa Bobnes knocked 32 seconds off her season-best time to place seventh and earn all-conference honors Saturday morning at the Northwest Conference cross country championships, which were held at Ft. Steilacoom Park in Lakewood, Wash. Bobnes finished the 5,000 meters in 18 minutes, 48.3 seconds, becoming the first Whitman runner this season to post a time under 19 minutes, and the first to break that barrier in two years.
A year ago at the conference championships, Bobnes placed 60th in a time of 21:08. She has battled a series on injuries in her three seasons at Whitman.
"Elisa was just amazing today," Whitman coach Carol Feezell said. "She has a shot now at going to the NCAA Division III regionals and qualifying for nationals."
The NCAA regionals are slated for Saturday, Nov. 14, in Chino, Calif., and Bobnes will race as the No. 3 seed from the Northwest Conference. That's because University of Puget Sound, which had four women place in the top six in Saturday's championships, is not yet eligible to compete in NCAA post-season events.
Puget Sound's Dana Boyle won the race in 17:43.1. Three of her teammates placed third, fourth and sixth. The only other competitors to finish ahead of Bobnes were two runners from Pacific Lutheran University and Linfield College.
In other results, the Missionary women's team placed fifth in the 10-school field, while the Whitman men finished eighth in the team scoring. "Both teams finished higher than last year, so that was one of our goals that we achieved," Feezell said.
The Whitman women finished with 101 team points, 11 points behind two teams (Linfield, Pacific Lutheran) that tied for third place. Puget Sound took the women's team title with 24, well ahead of second-place Willamette and its 77 points.
The Missionary men finished with 234 points, just one point behind seventh-place Whitworth. "Our men did not have especially good races, but we still have regionals in a few weeks," Feezell said. Whitman will send its top seven men and top seven women to the regional competition.
Lars Tysver had Whitman's best showing the 8,000 meters, placing 34th in a time of 27:39.8. He was slowed by a head cold at last year's conference championships, placing 71th in 30:28.
Rounding out the top five for the Whitman men were Dustin Moon, 51st, 28:35.6; Keli'i Kotubetey, 53rd, 28:39.3; Dan Moore, 57th, 29:11.9; and Hossein Baghdadi, 71st, 30:54. Kotubetey missed his season-best time by three seconds, and Baghdadi recovered from a fall to complete his race.
Also running for the Whitman men were Joel Byersdorfer, 61st, 30:54.7; Jamin Asay, 77th, 32:23.5; and Dean Chuang, 80th, 36:24.1.
Both Tysver and Moore were named to the conference all-academic teams. That honor goes to competitors who have maintained grade point averages of 3.5 or higher.
Puget Sound also won the men's team title, and one of its runners, Dave Davis, won the race in 25:29.6.
Although Bobnes was the only Whitman woman to finish under 19 minutes, four of her teammates hit the finish line under 20 minutes. A sixth Missionary runner, Megan Hunter, just missed breaking the 20-minute mark.
Scoring for Whitman after Bobnes were Faye Hutchison, 18th, 19:21.9; Heather Koertje, 22nd, 19:27.1; Kitty Rasmussen, 23rd, 19:27.3; and Taylor Dale, 31st, 19:44.7. Hunter placed 41st in a time of 20:02.9. Both Dale and Hunter had missed most of the season due to injuries. Rasmussen's time was her season-best effort.
Also running for Whitman were Amanda Havens, who placed 62nd in 20:57.2, and Piper Foster, who was 68th in 21:10.5. Foster also had a season-best time.
Their showing was superlative Saturday morning at the NCAA Div. III West Region cross country championships in Chino, Calif., but the Whitman College women fell just short -- agonizingly so -- of qualifying for the NCAA national championships.
As a team, the Missionary women placed second in a 16-school field, outracing all other schools from the Northwest and California. Unfortunately, only the winning team -- in this case, Colorado Colorado -- advances to the national meet, set for next Saturday in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
The top four finishers not on the winning team at regionals also qualify for nationals, and Whitman's top women came ever so close to advancing via that route. Whitman junior Elisa Bobnes placed eighth overall and was the fifth-place runner not on the winning team. Her senior teammate, Faye Hutchison, was ninth overall, while Missionary sophomore Heather Koertje placed 12th overall.
While disappointed that Whitman just missed advancing its women to nationals, Missionary coach Carol Feezell was thrilled with her team's overall performance. "The women were just amazing," she said. "We beat all the teams in our conference. We're extremely pleased with the way we ran. I couldn't have asked for anything more."
The Whitman men's team also competed in Saturday's regional meet but also failed to advance as a team or with any individuals.
Colorado College was a decisive winner in the women's team scoring with a total of 47 place points for its top five runners. Whitman was second with 98 points, followed by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps with 113, Pacific Lutheran University with 131, UC-San Diego with 137. Other teams from the Northwest Conference were Linfield, 6th, 149; Willamette, 7th, 155; Whitworth, 8th, 209; Lewis & Clark, 10th, 266; and Pacific, 13th, 361.
Pacific Lutheran's Marie George won the 5,000-meter event in 18:29, knocking five seconds off the course record. Colorado College had runners place second, third and sixth.
Bobnes placed eighth for Whitman in 19:22, seven seconds out of seventh place and seven seconds ahead of her teammate, Hutchison. Koertje's 12th-place time was 19:38.
Rounding out Whitman's top five were Kitty Rasmussen (25th, 20:03), who finished just two seconds out of 23rd place, and Megan Hunter (45th, 20:34), who also missed moving up two sports by just two seconds.
Also racing for the Whitman women in the 96-runner field were freshman Piper Foster, who placed 69th in 21:34, and Amanda Havens, who finished 77th in 21:52.
In the men's 8,000 meters, UC-San Diego edged Pacific Lutheran for the team title, 58 to 65 points. Linfield placed third. The Whitman men placed 13th with 388 points, finishing ahead of both California Lutheran University and Chapman University.
"It was a very tough course, but we're a little disappointed our men's team didn't place higher," Feezell said.
Pacific Lutheran's Ryan Pauling won the race in 25:27, blitzing the previous course record by 22 seconds.
Whitman's top finisher was Keli'i Kotubetey, who placed 68th in 28:58. "That was a good race for Keli'i," Feezell said, "and our No. 7 runner, Jamin Asay, also had a good race."
Others in the Whitman top five were Dan Moore, 79th, 29:41; Dustin Moon, 81st, 30:01; Lars Tysver, 91st, 31:11; and freshman Joel Byersdorfer, 95th, 31:42.
Asay, also a freshman, placed 96th in 31:44, while Hossein Baghdadi finished 100th in 32:19.