Whitman's Ariel Andrews placed sixth in a field of 45 runners as the Missionary cross country teams opened their seasons Saturday at the Harrier Invitational in Spokane.
Meanwhile, a quartet of freshman men were among Whitman's top five in the men's race.
Whitworth, which co-hosted the meet with Gonzaga University, took first in the women's team scoring with 27 place points for its top five runners. The Whitman women were second with 60 points, followed by Gonzaga with 68 points and North Idaho College with 69.
In the men's team scoring, North Idaho took top honors, edging the Community Colleges of Spokane, 32 to 35. The Whitworth men were third with 64 points, followed by Whitman with 103 and Gonzaga with 124.
Andrews, who ran for Whitman two years ago but not last fall, made a triumphant return, finishing the 4.2-kilometer course in 15 minutes, 58.47 seconds. She finished less than five seconds out of fourth place.
"Ariel ran a very good race for her first time back," Whitman coach Carol Feezell said. "She led for the first half of the race. She may have started a little too fast, but she still had an awesome race."
Next in line for the Whitman women was Karin Pfeiffer-Hoyt, a junior who missed last season because of leg problems. She placed 13th in 16:45.03.
"The best thing about Karin's race was that she felt fine and had no pain," Feezell said. Two years ago, Pfeiffer-Hoyt capped her freshman season by placing sixth in the Northwest Conference championships.
Piper Foster, one of the few seniors on the Whitman women's squad, finished 16th Saturday in 16:48.49, just ahead of first-year Missionary Sierra Witnov and her 16:49.45 time. Sophomore Jeanne Knechtges rounded out the top five, placing 19th in 16:53.36.
"Piper showed a great deal of improvement compared to what she's run in past seasons," Feezell said. "She's obviously worked very hard and shaved off a lot of time."
Other women competing for Whitman were Libby Winters, 27th, 17:32.32; Jessie Scott, 33rd, 17:50.02; Maureen Fitzmaurice, 40th, 18:44.04; and Florinda Larkin, 43rd, 19:27.71.
In the men's 5,000 meters, freshmen Ryan Choi and Conor Flynn gave Whitman its best efforts, placing 16th and 17th, respectively, in times of 17:12.81 and 17:13.92. A third freshman, Michael Orcutt, finished 22nd in 17:25.28.
Filling out the Missionary top five were sophomore Braden Burkholder, who was 27th in 17:35.12, and freshman Patrick Cade, who was 28th in 17:35.56.
"The men stuck together and ran very competitive races," Feezell said. "We had a couple of runners miss the bus this morning. Had we been at full strength, we would have had a good shot at beating Whitworth."
Others running for the Whitman men were Jerome Schwartz, 42nd, 18:39.51; Dan Parks, 44th, 19:00.57; and Jesse Ramer, 49th, 20:06.60.
"All things considered, I couldn't be more happy with the way both of our teams started the season today," Feezell said. "Our teams are young, but we have a lot of potential."
Ryan Choi and Braden Burkholder for the men and Ariel Andrews and Karin Pfeifer-Hoyt for the women posted Whitman's top performances Friday evening in the University of Idaho Invitational cross country meet in Moscow, Idaho.
"Both of our teams were competitive, and everyone ran strong races," Whitman coach Carol Feezell said. "There were a lot of complaints about sore muscles and tired legs, but that's what you want to hear at this point in the season. We're continuing to train very hard."
Andrews, a Whitman junior, placed 14th in the women's race, finishing the 4,000-meter course in 16 minutes, 15 seconds. Pfeifer-Hoyt was 18th in 16:33.
Rounding out the top five for the Missionary women were senior Piper Foster, 26th, 16:50; freshman Sierra Witnov, 27th, 16:51; and sophomore Jeanne Knechtges, 16:59.
Choi, a freshman, finished the men's 4-mile course in 22 minutes, 23 seconds to place 25th. Sophomore Braden Burkholder was just a step behind, placing 26th in 22:25.
Three more freshmen filled out the top five for the Missionary men. Michael Orcutt was 36th in 22:43. Patrick Cade and Conor Flynn occupied the next two places with both runners being timed in 22:44.
Other teams in the meet, in addition to Whitman and Idaho, were Washington State, Lewis-Clark State College (LCSC), Whitworth and Clackamas Community College. Dual-meet team scores were kept for Whitman against each of the non-Division I schools -- Whitworth, LCSC and Clackamas.
The Whitman women edged Clackamas 25-33 but lost to Lewis-Clark State 23-32 and to Whitworth 21-34.
In the men's scoring, Whitman lost by the same 22-33 score to both LCSC and Whitworth. The Missionary men lost to Clackamas by a 17-41 margin.
Others running for the Whitman men's team were James Voelckers, 53rd, 23:34; Joel Byersdorfer, 55th, 23:45; Dan Parks, 56th, 24:18; Mark Wilson, 60th, 25:13; and Jesse Ramer, 63rd, 26:10.
Other women running Whitman were Libby Winters, 35th, 17:16; Jessie Scott, 46th, 17:56; Maureen Fitzmaurice, 49th, 18:27; Florinda Larkin, 50th, 18:35; and Whitney Blackman, 54th, 20:50.
Washington State runners won both races. Everlyn Lagat won the women's event in 14:55. Ian Johnson was the men's winner in 20:15.
Running with the leaders on an especially warm Saturday in mid-September, Whitman's Ariel Andrews placed a strong fourth in the women's 5,000 meters at the annual Whitman Invitational in Ft. Walla Walla Park.
Andrews, a junior, finished in 19 minutes, 25.91 seconds.
In the men's highly competitive 8,000 meters, freshman Conor Flynn placed 33rd in 28 minutes, 41.67 seconds to give Whitman its best showing. Sophomore Braden Burkholder was close behind, however, finishing 34th in 28:42.58.
Tausha Kuzmic of Lewis-Clark State won the women's race in 18:51.69. Whitworth's Leslie Nelson was second in 18:58.85, while Northwest Nazarene's AnnMarie Wiggins passed Whitman's Andrews in the final 100 yards to claim third place in 19:22.82.
In the men's race, Northwest Nazarene runners filled the first four spots, and five of the top six. Aaron Matthias was first in 25:19.62, edging teammate Francis Kimeli by less than two seconds. Juraj Trubiroha and Caleb Tubei finished third and fourth for Northwest Nazarene.
In the team scoring, the Northwest Nazarene (NNU) were easy winner with 16 points. Eastern Oregon University (EOU) was second with 42 points, followed by third-place Spokane Falls Community College with 100. Next in line were Whitworth 114, Lewis-Clark State College (LCSC) 128, Whitman 168, and Treasure Valley Community College 200.
The battle for top spot among the women's teams was much closer. LCSC won with 33 points, 10 points in front of Whitworth. NNU took third with 68 points, while Whitman placed fourth with 82 points. EOU was fifth with 130 points. The two community colleges did not field full women's teams.
Rounding out Whitman's top five in the women's race were junior Karin Pfeifer-Hoyt, 18th, 20:26.61; freshman Sierra Witnov, 19th, 20:28.52; sophomore Jeanne Knechtges, 20th, 20:29.01; and senior Piper Foster, 25th, 20:41.05.
Eight more Missionary women ran -- Libby Winters, 44th, 21:38.07; Christina Anderson, 46th, 21:58.57; Mary Southwick, 47th, 22:08.39; Jessie Scott, 49th, 22:09.66; Maureen Fitzmaurice, 51st, 22:23.19; Florinda Larkin, 54th, 22:54.98; Whitney Blackman, 58th, 24:56.61; and Katie Santorsola, 59th, 27:14.48.
Three more freshmen joined Flynn and Burkholder in Whitman's top five in the men's race. Patrick Cade placed 37th in 28:51.27, while James Voelckers and Michael Orcutt finished 40th and 42nd, respectively, in times of 29:04.72 and 29:11.01.
Whitman's next five were Ryan Choi, 50th, 29:46.59; Joel Byersdorfer, 51st, 30:03.99; Jerome Schwartz, 57th, 30:47.94; Taylor Gaar, 59th, 30:56.25; and Dan Parks, 61st, 31:08.96. Choi, Gaar and Parks are freshmen.
Others running for Whitman in the men's race were Charlie Gardner, 68th, 33:32.51; Stefan Pryor, 69th, 34:01.70; Jesse Ramer, 71st, 34:23.47; Rory Bradt, 74th, 35:39.60; and Chris Kitchen, 75th, 35:50.13.
Despite losing a shoe part way through the race, Whitman's Ariel Andrews placed 19th in a highly competitive field of 70 non-Division I runners in the women's 5,000 meters at the annual Big Cross Invitational on the Tri-Cities International Cross Country Course near the Pasco (Wash.) Airport.
Meanwhile, in the men's 8,000 meters, sophomore Braden Burkholder topped Whitman's contingent for the first time this season, placing 32nd among 77 non-Division I runners.
Andrews, a junior, finished in 20 minutes, 4 seconds -- less than a second behind two runners from Mt. Hood Community College. Heather McDonald of the University of British Columbia (UBC) ran away with the race, finishing in 18:08. Angie Benson of Idaho's Ricks College was second in 18:42.
"Losing a shoe obviously slowed Ariel down a bit," Whitman coach Carol Feezell said. "The course was mostly soft dirt and rolling hills, which made for some slow times."
While top runners on the Whitman men's team finished within seconds of one another in previous races, that wasn't the case on Saturday. Burkholder finished in 27:29, a full minute ahead of the next Missionary competitor. Whitman freshman Conor Flynn placed 46th in 28:30.
David Milne of the UBC won the men's race in 25:39.
Rounding out the top five for the Missionary men were senior Joel Byersdorfer, 49th, 28:54; freshman James Voelckers, 50th, 28:56; and freshman Patrick Cade, 57th, 29:43.
"That was a great race for Braden, and Joel really came on strong this week, too," Feezell said.
Others running for the Whitman men were Ryan Choi, 60th, 30:05; Jerome Schwartz, 62nd, 30:11; Dan Parks, 65th, 30:28; Charlie Gardner, 72nd, 32:25; Stefan Pryor, 75th, 34:37; Jesse Ramer, 76th, 34:51; and Dan Cadol, 77th, 35:51.
In the women's race, freshman Sierra Witnov had the next best showing for the Missionaries, placing 28th in 20:42. Filling out the Whitman first five were junior Karin Pfeifer-Hoyt, 30th, 20:49; senior Piper Foster, 38th, 21:37; and sophomore Libby Winters, 43rd, 21:55.
Nine other women ran for Whitman: Jeanne Knechtges, 44th, 21:56; Jessie Scott, 46th, 22:01; Christina Anderson, 51st, 22:37; Mary Southwick, 53rd, 22:59; Maureen Fitzmaurice, 55th, 23:14; Flo Larkin, 61st, 23:53; Elizabeth DeLong, 63rd, 24:19; Whitney Blackman, 69th, 25:57; and Katie Santorsola, 70th, 31:26.
"The teams are still training very hard," Feezell said. "I'm not looking for our best races yet from any of the runners. The important point is that everyone finished strong and healthy."
In the team scoring for non-Division I teams, both Whitman squads placed fifth among six schools.
The Missionary women finished with 162 place points for their top five, just 21 points behind fourth-place Eastern Washington University. Runners from Ricks placed second through ninth individually, giving that school an easy team victory with just 20 points. UBC was second with 122 points and Mt. Hood third with 126 points.
UBC won the men's team scoring with 36 place points. Ricks was second with 86. Whitman's fifth-place total was 234.
Montana State won the Division I team scoring both races. Other Division I schools were Washington State, Boise State, Eastern Washington, Idaho and Santa Clara.
Running an extra 1,000 meters against NCAA Div. I and Div. II competitors, Whitman's Ariel Andrews rolled to a top-ten finish Saturday at the San Francisco State University Invitational at Golden Gate Park.
Andrews, a junior, finished the 6,000-meter course in 23 minutes, 6.34 seconds, good enough for 10th place.
"Our women normally run 5,000 meters, so it was a tough race for us," Whitman coach Carol Feezell said. "Ariel ran a great race. As a team, our women placed seventh among nine schools, which was a good accomplishment given the circumstances. All of the other runners were from Division II or Division I programs."
In the men's 8,000 meters, Whitman sophomore Braden Burkholder placed 25th in a time of 27 minutes, 23.33 seconds. The Whitman men placed fifth among six schools in team scoring.
"All of our women ran well, and so did the men," Feezell said. "This was the first time I've had everyone on the men's team break 30 minutes for 8,000 meters. That was great to see."
Three freshmen and a senior rounded out Whitman's top five in the men's race. Conor Flynn, one of the freshmen, placed 32nd in 27:59.74. Next in line were freshmen Ryan Choi and James Voelckers, who finished 34th and 36th, respectively, in 28:05.55 and 28:09.82. Senior Joel Byersdorfer slipped into 39th place with a time of 28:39.86.
In the women's race, Whitman's next best showing was posted by junior Karin Pfeifer-Hoyt, who placed 39th in 24:36.28. Freshman Sierra Witnov was a few strides back in 41st place, finishing in 24:40.22.
Others placing for the Whitman women were Jeanne Knechtges, 56th, 25:12.58; Piper Foster, 62nd, 25:56.94; Jessie Scott, 63rd, 26:13.97; and Libby Winters, 66th, 27:14.95.
Two more Whitman freshmen, Patrick Cade and Michael Orcutt, were not far behind. Cade placed 42nd in 29:10.42, while Orcutt was 43rd in 29:15.33.
Fresno State won the women's team scoring with 34 points. Sonoma State was second with 68 points. Whitman was seventh with 189 points, just four points behind the University of California-Berkeley. The Missionaries finished ahead of both Chico State and San Francisco State.
Sonoma State's Kathy Lenno won the women's race in 21:41.35.
Chico State was first in the men's race with 35 points. California was second with 57 points. Whitman was fifth with 126 points, 21 points in front of San Francisco State.
Running unattached, Miguel Nuci won the men's race in 25:12.54. Jose Palacios of Cal State-Stanislaus took second in 25:13.07.
Braden Burkholder and Sierra Witnov ran their season-best times to lead the Whitman cross country teams at Saturday's Warrior Invitational, held at Lewiston's Hells Gate Park and hosted by Lewis-Clark State College (LCSC).
LCSC, an NAIA Div. I school, has "very strong cross country teams, so this was great competition for us," Whitman coach Carol Feezell said. "It was a fast course, and we had several runners finish with their best times so far this fall."
Burkholder, a sophomore, placed third in the men's 8,000 meters in a time of 26 minutes, 33 seconds. He finished one second behind the runnerup, Jeff Collins of LCSC. Burkholder lowered his season-best time by 50 seconds.
Joe Donnellon, also representing the host school, won the race in 26:00. LCSC and Whitman were the only schools participating in the meet.
Witnov, a first-year runner for the Missionaries, placed sixth in the women's 5,000 meters in 19:08, just one second out of fifth place. Witnov's previous best time for that distance was 20:28.
LCSC's Tausha Kuzmic won the women's race in 18:16.
Whitman junior Karin Pfeifer-Hoyt placed eighth in 19:27. Senior Piper Foster just missed the top ten, finishing 11th in 19:52.
Burkholder was one of four Missionaries who finished in the top ten in the men's race. Freshman Ryan Choi was sixth in 27:20. Two more freshmen, Pat Cade and James Voelckers, placed ninth and 10th, respectively, in times of 27:32 and 27:35.
Others running for the Whitman men were Mike Orcutt, 13th, 28:18; Joel Byersdorfer, 14th, 28:22; Jerome Schwartz, 17th, 28:52; and Jesse Ramer, 18th, 32:49.
Six other Missionaries ran in the women's race, finishing from 14th place through 19th. Jeanne Knechteges led this group with a time of 20:26. She was followed by Libby Winters (20:42), Jessie Scott (20:43), Mary Southwick (20:54), Flo Larkin 21:02, and Maureen Fitzmaurice (21:37).
Several Missionaries, including women's team leader Ariel Andrews, did not compete in Saturday's race. Conor Flynn, one of the top runners on the men's team, skipped the race to rest a sore foot.
"Today was a good, positive step for us in getting ready for the Northwest Conference championships," Feezell said. "It's going to be tough, but both of our teams have a shot at finishing in the top at conference, which is our goal this season."
Whitman runners have the option next Saturday of competing in Bigfoot Open in Spokane. "Some runners might feel they need to rest while others might want to race once more before conference," Feezell said.
The NWC championships are set for Saturday, Oct. 27, in Salem, Ore.
Ariel Andrews and Sierra Witnov for the women and Braden Burkholder for the men posted Whitman's top performances Saturday morning in the Bigfoot Open, hosted by Spokane Falls Community College.
With her runners already into their "tapering" process for next Saturday's Northwest Conference championships, Whitman coach Carol Feezell made the Bigfoot Open an optional event. "This was a very low-key, low-pressure race for us," she said. "Everyone worked hard and ran a good race, but we weren't trying to push too hard."
Andrews, a junior in her second collegiate season of running, placed eighth in the women's 5,000 meters in 19 minutes, 52.70 seconds. Witnov, a first-year runner, placed 15th in 20:32.10. Anna Blue, running unattached, won the women's race in 18:46.60.
"We all felt the course was tough and slow," Feezell said. "There was a lot of grass, a long incline and then a steep hill right before the finish."
Burkholder, a sophomore, finished 19th in the men's 8,000 meters. His time was 27:49.60. Corey Brantley, running for Team Spokane, won the men's event in 25:13.
In the team scoring, the Whitman women placed fourth with 81 points, just three points behind third-place Gonzaga. Team Spokane was first in the women's team scoring with 34 points, while Spokane Falls was second with 50. Montana's Flathead Community College was fifth with 118 points, followed by Whitworth's "B" team with 126 points.
The Whitman men finished fifth with 124 points. Spokane Falls was first with 29 points, followed by Team Spokane 34, Eastern Washington 84, and Gonzaga 100. The Whitworth "B" team was sixth with 178 points.
Others placing for the Whitman women were Piper Foster, 15th, 21:36.90; Jeanne Knechtges, 31st, 21:47.60; Flo Larkin, 39th, 22:43.30; Maureen FitzMaurice, 42nd, 22:59.50; and Elizabeth DeLong, 47th, 23:29.70.
Others running for the Missionary men were Conor Flynn, 34th 28:34.70; Mike Orcutt, 38th, 28:52.60; Jerome Schwartz, 48th, 29:57.80; Dan Parks, 50th, 30:08.80; Jesse Ramer, 66th, 33:36.10; and Stefan Pryor, 67th, 34:31.10.
Whitman will take its top eight men and top eight women to next Saturday's NWC championships at Bush Park in Salem, Ore.
For either team to advance to the NCAA regionals, they must place in the top four at the conference championships. Individual runners can also qualify for regionals by placing in the top 14 at conference. Feezell set those guidelines at the beginning of the fall season.
Andrews, Witnov and junior Karin Pfeifer-Hoyt, who didn't compete in the Bigfoot Open, will lead the Whitman women's team to conference. Foster, Knechtges, Larkin, Jessie Scott and Libby Winters will round out the women's team.
Burkholder will lead a men's team that includes Flynn, Orcutt, Ryan Choi, James Voelckers and Patrick Cade -- all freshmen. Schwartz, a junior, and senior Joel Byersdorfer, will also make the trip to the conference championships.
Ariel Andrews and Braden Burkholder both finished in 21st place in their races, leading the Whitman cross country teams to sixth-place showings in Saturday morning's Northwest Conference Championships in Salem, Ore.
"The results were somewhat disappointing in that we really wanted to finish in fourth place and advance to the NCAA regionals," Whitman coach Carol Feezell said. "I knew we would be facing a very tough field, but I was a little surprised by the depth of talent. It was an extremely competitive field, and the times were very fast."
Burkholder, a sophomore, ran a season-best 26 minutes, 32.50 seconds in the men's 8,000 meters. A year ago, when the NWC championships were hosted by Whitman at Ft. Walla Walla Park, Burkholder placed 26th in a time of 27:17.75.
Andrews, a junior, finished the women's 5,000 meters in 19:28.21, which was within a few seconds of her season-best time. The race was her first NWC championship event. She did not compete in the conference championships two years ago, when Whitman fielded a senior-dominated team, and she didn't run cross country last fall as a sophomore.
"For the most part, we were satisified with our times," Feezell said. "A few people really felt they could have placed higher, but most of our runners ran right around their season-best times."
The Willamette men and Puget Sound women won Saturday's team titles. Willamette captured the men's title with 29 place points, well ahead of Lewis & Clark (60), Puget Sound (72), and Pacific Lutheran (76). Puget Sound took the women's championship with 46 points, outrunning Willamette (58), Pacific Lutheran (78), and Whitworth (84).
Whitman's sixth-place team totals were 168 for the women and 170 for the men. Teams from nine schools ran in each race.
"Even though our teams wanted to place higher, sixth place isn't bad in a conference as competitive as ours," Feezell said. "Most of our top runners will be back next season. We're still building, and we have a lot to build with."
Puget Sound senior Dana Boyle, undefeated all season, crushed the field in the women's race. Her time 17:32.12, was about 47 seconds in front last year's champion, senior Lia Ossiander of Pacific Lutheran.
Neil Ware, a Lewis & Clark senior, won the men's race in 24:55.91, finishing about five seconds in front of Pacific Lutheran senior Ryan Reed.
Karin Pfeifer-Hoyt, a Whitman junior, had the next best Missionary showing in the women's race. She placed 24th, just three spots behind Andrews, in 19:34.75. Pfeifer-Hoyt, missed all of last season due to injury, placed in the NWC championships two years ago as a freshman.
Rounding out the top five for the Whitman women were freshman Sierra Witnov, 36th, 20:02.90; sophomore Jeanne Knechtges, 49th, 20:39.03; and senior Piper Foster, 50th, 20:39.25. In her two previous NWC championship races, Foster finished 51st and 68th.
Others running for the Whitman women were sophomore Libby Winters, 59th, 21:03.81; senior Jessie Scott, 61st, 21:10.03; and sophomore Flo Larkin, 66th, 22:01.37.
Three freshmen and a senior filled the next four Whitman spots behind Burkholder. Conor Flynn, one of the freshmen, placed 32nd in 27:31.20. The other first-year runners, Patrick Cade and Michael Orcutt, finished 41st and 44th, respectively, in 27:54.71 and 28:01.02. Senior Joel Byersdorfer was 45th in 28:04.30, while another freshman, James Voelckers, was 47th in 28:08.30.
Saturday was Byersdorfer's fourth appearance in the NWC championships and his best-ever placing. His previous best came last season, when he finished in 58th.
Others running for the Missionary men Saturday were freshman Ryan Choi and junior Jerome Schwartz, who placed 56th and 57th, respectively, in 28:46.38 and 28:47.05. It was the third NWC championship race for Schwartz, whose previous best was 67th.