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| Whitman's Kate Ceronsky (#128) is momentarily flanked by two Northwest Nazarene runners during Saturday's Whitman Invitational. |
Kate Ceronsky, a first-year runner from Arden Hills, Minn., placed fourth in the women's 4,000 meters to give the host school its top performance in Saturday morning's Whitman Cross Country Invitational at Ft. Walla Walla Park.
Meanwhile, in the men's 6,000 meters, junior Sam Clark and sophomore Brian Woods placed ninth and 10th, respectively, to pace the Missionaries.
Ceronsky was clocked in 15:36.74, finishing just over a second behind the third-place runner, Northwest Nazarene's Ashley Puga. Two Whitworth seniors, Kristi Dickey and Elaine Heinemann, finished first and second with times of 15:09.98 and 15:27.55.
"That was a good effort for Kate," Whitman coach Malcolm Dunn said. "With a little more focus, she could have finished closer to second place."
Two Whitman seniors, Sarah McConnell and Ashley Joyce-Summerfeld, placed 12th and 13th. McConnell finished in 16:48.15, about four seconds in front of Joyce-Summefeld. "I was pleased with Sarah and Ashley," Dunn said. "They worked well together."
Rounding out the top five for the Whitman women were senior Kat Magid, who was 21st in 17:10.77, and first-year runner Mia Huth, who was 23rd in 17:18.82.
Clark topped the Whitman men with a ninth-place time of 20:34.80, finishing about three seconds ahead of Woods. Whitworth senior Doug Blackburn won the race in 19:12.88, beating Northwest Nazarene's Kevin Lambert by about six seconds. "Sam and Brian also seemed to work well together," Dunn said. "Brian probably ran the smartest race of anyone on our team. He moved up in the pack throughout the race."
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| Whitman's Jake Kinstler |
Jake Kinstler, a freshman from Seattle, led a pack of three Whitman runners who placed 16th, 17th and 18th. Kinstler's time was 20:56.73. Sophomore Kevin Van Meter was 17th in 21:06.62, just ahead sophomore Eli Asch and his 21:11.82 time. Ian Bell, a freshman from Diamond Bar, Calif., placed 20th for Whitman in 21:15.16.
"As the season goes along I think Jake will finish higher," Dunn said. "It was great, though, to see Kevin, Eli and Ian place as high as they did. We're going to have other guys also move up as the season continues."
Sophomore Tim Marrinan and senior Zach Britton, both running their first college cross country race, placed 27th and 28th, respectively, in 21:43.90 and 21:45.93. Nick Littman, a freshman from Novato, Calif., finished 30th in 22:20.65, while junior Adam Kopet was 31st in 22:21.81.
Others running for Whitman were freshman John Klein, 33rd, 23:01.76; senior Aaron Mandel, 34th, 23:27.45; freshman Jens Lund Snee, 37th, 23:53.42; and sophomore Robert Marcotte, 38th, 24:08.00.
Others racing for the Whitman women included first-year runners Alex Pogue (San Francisco), who was 27th in 17:42.47, and Gia Matzinger (Menlo Park, Calif.), who was 28th in 17:42.67.
Also running in the women's race were Anu Sawkar, 36th, 18:37.83; Katie Levy, 41st, 19:00.72; Rachel Stein, 43rd, 19:35.79; and Betsy Schroeder, 44th, 20:05.48.
In the women's team scoring, Whitworth took top honors with 31 points. Northwest Nazarene was second with 34 points. Whitman was third with 66 points.
In the men's team scoring, Northwest Nazarene edged Whitworth 30 to 31. Whitman finished with 65 points.
The Whitman squads compete next Saturday in the Lewis & Clark Invitational at McIver Park near Estacada, Ore.
Laura Valaas, Kate Ceronsky and Brian Woods picked up individual medals for the Whitman cross country teams on Saturday, placing in the top 15 of their respective races at the Lewis & Clark Invitational at McIver Park near Estacada, Ore.
Valaas, a senior, and Ceronsky, a first-year runner, placed 10th and 13th, respectively, in the women's 6,000 meters with times of 23:25.70 and 23:41.50. Woods, a sophomore, finished 14th in the men's 8,000 meters in 26:53.30.
"The top 15 in each race received individual awards, so it was good to see our runners up on the awards podium," Whitman coach Malcolm Dunn said.
In the team scoring, Whitman placed fourth on the women's side and sixth on the men's. There were a total of seven teams in each race, with two other schools fielding incomplete teams.
Lewis & Clark won the women's race with 44 points. Next in line were Linfield 63, George Fox 65, Whitman 96, Pacific 106, Concordia 133, and Corban 183. Linfield's Joanna Murphy won the women's race in 22:20.70.
With Nathan May winning the men's race in 25:12.10, Corban (formerly Western Baptist) took first in the team scoring with 53 points. Linfield was second with 74 points, followed by Lewis & Clark 82, Concordia 84, George Fox 102, Whitman 115, and Pacific 153.
In running under 27 minutes for Whitman in the men's race, Woods lowered his best-ever time by a whopping one minute, 45 seconds. "Breaking 27 minutes is quite an accomplishment for this early in the season," Dunn said. "It points to good things ahead for Brian."
Seeing both Valaas and Ceronsky run under 24 minutes in the women's race is also a good sign, Dunn said. "We had three more women finish under 25 minutes, which is also a signficant barrier 6,000 meters."
Rounding out Whitman's top five for the women were junior Caitlin Kearny, who was 23rd in 24:33.90, and two seniors, Sarah McConnell (24th, 24:46.20) and Ashley Joyce-Sommerfeld (26th, 24:48.70). "We had some great group running among the women," Dunn said. "Caitlin, Sarah and Ashley worked well together and finished within 15 seconds of each other."
A second group of Whitman women also ran as a pack, placing 38th through 40th. Senior Kat Magid led the way in 25:31.80. First-year runner Mia Huth was next in 25:35.00 followed by junior Emma Lohr in 25:37.40.
In the men's race, Woods was followed to the finish line by a group of six teammates who also posted strong early season times. "All six of those guys ran under or right at 28 minutes, which was a solid team effort for us," Dunn said.
Freshman Jake Kinstler was second for Whitman, placing 24th in 27:40.50. Junior Sam Clark was 28th in 27:46.10, followed by freshman Ian Bell and sophomore Eli Asch, who finished 32nd and 33rd, respectively, in 27:59.50 and 28:00.30. Sophomore Kevin Van Meter was a few strides back, placing 36th in 28:06.40.
"All of the Whitman men, Brian and Jake in particular, ran faster in the second half of race than they did in the first half," Dunn said. "They started conservatively and moved up in the field as the race progressed."
"What our team is most excited about, and what they were talking about afterward, is how well we ran in small groups and units and were able to help one another through the middle part of the races," Dunn added.
Others running for the Whitman men were Tim Marrinan, 44th, 28:41.50; Zach Britton, 46th, 28:46.90; Nick Littman, 51st, 29:21.10; John Klein, 55th, 29:56.60; Adam Kopet, 59th, 30:13.30; Aaron Mandel, 63rd, 31:01.40; and Jens Lund-Snee, 66th, 31:25.70.
Also running for the Whitman women were Gia Matzinger, 50th, 26:45.30; Alex Pogue, 55th, 27:08.10; Anu Sawkar, 57th, 27:13.90; Katie Levy, 59th, 27:38.60; Betsy Schroeder, 66th, 28:45.60; Rachel Stein, 67th, 29)1.30; Fiona Taggart, 69th, 29:37.50; and Rachel Patterson, 70th, 30:07.20.
Senior Laura Valaas placed 34th and first-year teammate Kate Ceronsky was close behind in 39th to give the Whitman women's cross country team a solid one-two punch in the 6,000-meter "open" race at Saturday's 14th-Annual Sundodger Invitational in Seattle's Lincoln Park.
In the men's 8,000-meter open, sophomore Brian Woods registered Whitman's top finish, placing 143rd in a huge field of 311 runners.
Hosted by the University of Washington, the Sundodger Invitational offers "open" races for smaller schools. Two additional "invitational" races are held for NCAA Div. I schools.
Valaas was clocked in 23:10 while Ceronsky finished in 23:17 in the women's open, which attracted 265 runners and seven of the eight schools in the Northwest Conference (NWC). Both Valaas and Ceronsky had season-best times.
Simon Fraser's Kristen Kolstad won the women's open in 21:43, edging the University of British Columbia's Meaghan McCollum by eight seconds. Valaas had the ninth-best time among NWC runners.
Seniors Caitlin Kearney (89th, 24:16), Sarah McConnell (98th, 24:27) and Ashley Joyce-Summerfeld (124th, 24:51) rounded out Whitman's top-five team score. With 349 place points, the Missionary women was 14th among 23 schools. Whitman finished ahead of NWC-rivals Pacific (15th, 354) and Pacific Lutheran (16th, 357), and just behind two more conference schools, Whitworth (11th, 271) and Puget Sound (13th, 337). Top team honors for the NWC schools went to Willamette, Lewis & Clark and George Fox, schools that placed fourth through sixth.
"I think it was a good wake-up call to let us know where we are after a relatively hard week of practice," Whitman coach Malcolm Dunn said. "It shows that we can be competitive in the conference field on the women's side. With fresher legs and another few weeks of training, we will definitely move up on the competition."
In the men's open, Woods finished the 8,000 meters in 27:26. Next in line for Whitman were two more sophomores, Eli Asch, who was 163rd in 27:43, and Kevin Van Meter, who was 170th in 27:47. Completing the Missionary team scoring were junior Sam Clark (184th, 27:54) and freshman Ian Bell (207th, 28:13). Running a strong sixth for the Missionaries was freshman Jake Kinstler, who was 209th in 28:14.
"On the men's side, there were a couple of solid individual performances, but I was a little disappointed with the overall team finish," Dunn said. "A couple of the runners who've been in the top seven for us in past races did not perform as well as they have previously."
On the plus side, Dunn added, "Within the our team's running groups I was impressed with how well they were able to stay in contact with each other, considering the number of athletes in the race. It was a fast race, with the top six runners finishing under 25 minutes."
Nick Arciniaga, running for a non-college club team, won the men's race in 24:39. Willamette's Nick Symmonds was second in 24:49. Willamette was the clear-cut winner in the team scoring, taking first with just 45 points. The University of Portland was second with 72 points. Whitman placed 24th among 28th schools with 641 points.
Others running for the Whitman men were Zach Britton (232nd, 28:37), Elliot Brian (233rd, 28:38), John Klein (244th, 28:55), Adam Kopet (263rd, 29:24), Aaron Mandel (281st, 29:57), Robert Marcotte (287th, 30:09), and Jens Lund-Snee (293rd, 30:50).
Whitman women also racing in the 6,000 meters were Kat Magid (148th, 25:15), Mia Huth (183rd, 26:00), Alex Pogue (190th, 26:07), Katie Levy (238th, 28:00), Betsy Schroeder (242nd, 28:13), and Rachel Patterson (246th, 28:35).
Whitman's next race is in two weeks, when Willamette hosts the Charles Bowles Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 1, in Salem, Ore.
Brian Woods led a good showing by the Whitman men and Kate Ceronsky and Sarah McConnell broke 20 minutes in the women's 5,000 meters at Saturday's 14th annual Charles Bowles Cross Country meet in Salem, Ore.
Woods, a sophomore, placed 114th in a huge field of 269 runners in the men's 8,000 meters. His time was 27:01.80.
Ceronsky, a first-year runner, placed 88th among 258 runners in the women's field. Her time was 19:44.05. McConnell, a senior, was 108th in 19:58.75.
"Sarah probably had our best showing on the women's side," Whitman coach Malcolm Dunn said. "She was able to push through 20 minutes for the first time in the 5,000 meters, which is a distance we don't run every week."
Rounding out the top five for the Whitman men, after Woods, were junior Sam Clark, 121st, 27:07.05; sophomore Kevin Van Meter, 158th, 27:38.55; sophomore Eli Asch, 181st, 27:57.35; and senior Zach Britton, 193rd, 28:06.85.
In the team scoring, the Whitman men placed 20th among 30 schools with 619 points, finishing ahead of three Northwest Conference rivals -- Lewis & Clark, Pacific, and Pacific Lutheran. "It was encouraging to see how well our men did in relation to some of the other conference schools," Dunn said.
"More important was the strength we showed in the middle of our men's pack," Dunn added. "Sam Clark ran a solid race, as did a few others. Nick Littman had a personal-best time. Zach Britton had a great race, about what I would call a break-through race. His head was in the game the whole way."
Others running for the Whitman men were Tim Marrinan, 201st, 28:22.00; Nick Littman, 228th, 29:01.35; Ian Bell, 232nd, 29:12.00; John Klein, 250th, 30:18.70; and Aaron Mandel, 256th, 30:34.35.
Others contributing to the Whitman women's team score were senior Ashley Joyce- Sommerfeld, 124th, 20:11.55; senior Caitlin Kearney, 159th, 20:34.10; and senior Kat Magid, 174th, 20:51.40.
Also running for the Missionary women were Gia Matzinger, 201st, 21:25.60; Emma Lohr, 232nd, 23:02.55; and Betsy Schroeder, 247th, 24:02.98.
The Whitman women had a team score of 581 points, placing 23rd among 28 schools.
Chico State, an NCAA Div. II school, dominated both the men's and women's race. Chico State swept the top six individual places in the men's event and the top three in the women's race.
Laura Valaas paced the Whitman women's cross country team with a 13th-place finish in a field of 81 runners at the Big Foot Open Meet Saturday in Spokane, Wash. Meanwhile, Sam Clark led the Whitman men with a 23rd-place finish in a field of 90.
Valaas, a senior, ran the women’s 5,000 meters in 19:38. Clark finished the men’s 8,000 meters in 27:39. In the team scoring, the Missionary women totaled 123 points to take fourth among six teams. The Whitman men had 132 points and placed fifth in a group of seven schools.
Kate Ceronsky, a first-year runner who normally runs No. 2 for Whitman, stepped off the course after the first two miles and did not finish the race. "Kate ran the plan, which was to run with Laura and then stop after two miles,” Whitman coach Malcolm Dunn said. “Laura had a strong race," finishing just 14 seconds out of the top 10.
Ceronsky, after logging an intense week of training, used Saturday's race as a race-like workout. She is also in training for the upcoming Nordic ski season.
Next to finish for the Whitman women, after Valaas, was senior Sara McConnell in 20:07. "Sarah is continuing to improve through the season," Dunn said.
Rounding out the scoring five on the women's side were first-year Alex Pogue in 21:21 (39th), senior Kat Magid in 21:40 (46th), and sophomore Anu Sawkar in 22:55 (62nd). "In terms of team performance, without Kate finishing, and without Caitlin Kearney and Ashley Joyce-Summerfeld running, we didn't do as well as we could have if they all ran. The team score does not reflect how strong a team we are."
Kearney and Joyce-Summerfeld, both seniors, sat out the race due to minor injury or illness. Junior Emma Catmur (illness) and first-year runner Gia Matzinger (academic conflict) also missed the race.
A close second to Clark for the Whitman men was sophomore Brian Woods, just one place and two seconds behind in 24th with a time of 27:41. "Both Sam and Brian are coming along nicely and it was good to see them working so well together throughout the race,” Dunn said. “They got out really fast and had enough composure not to panic."
Also in the scoring five for the Missionary men were sophomore Kevin Van Meter in 28:09 (34th), junior Elliot Brian in 28:17 (39th), and sophomore Eli Asch in 28:33 (46th). "The race of the day has to go to Elliot -- starting out in a good position and working his way through the field,” Dunn said.
“I'm really excited about the movement that's going to happen in the next two weeks once we get into our tapering mode,” Dunn said. “Once we back off a bit and run with fresher legs. we're going to have a good series of performances."
Also competing for the Whitman women were first-year runners Betsy Schroeder (22:58, 63rd), Katie Levy (23:21, 66th), Rachel Stein (23:41, 68th), and Rachel Patterson (24:25, 73rd).
Others competing for the men were sophomore Tim Marrinan (28:41, 50th), junior Adam Kopet (29:25, 63rd), senior Zach Britton (29:33, 66th), senior Aaron Mandel (30:43, 76th), and sophomore Robert Marcotte (30:43, 77th).
The University of Calgary won the women’s team scoring with just 22 points, placing six runners in the top 10. Calgary’s Shannon Popowich led most of the way and ended with a first-place time of 18:08. Whitworth, the only other Northwest Conference school to compete in the meet, finished a strong second with a team score of 56 points. Whitworth’s Kristi Dickey placeed with a time of 18:40.
Community Colleges of Spokane, the host school, claimed the victory in the men's team scoring with 32 points. Calgary's Doug Kerr won the race in 25:00, the third-fastest time ever on this course. Whitworth finished just one place ahead of Whitman, taking fourth with a team score of 80 points. Doug Blackburn was Whitworth's first finisher, placing fourth in 25:59.
Next up for the men's and the women's teams are Northwest Conference Championships, set for Saturday, Oct. 29, at Bush Pasture Park in Salem, Ore. Willamette University is the host.
Laura Valaas placed 19th in the women's 6,000 meters and Brian Woods finished 23rd in the men's 8,000 meters to give Whitman its top performances in the Northwest Conference Cross Country Championships Saturday at Bush Pasture Park in Salem, Ore.
Valaas, a senior running only her second year of cross country, ran the 6,000 meters in 23:30.40. She placed 32nd at last fall's NWC finals. Woods, a sophomore, completed his race in 26:46.70, improving his placing by a whopping 30 spots from a year ago.
In the team scoring, the Whitman women placed seventh among nine schools with 189 points. The Whitman men were seventh among eight schools with 171 points.
"On the men's side, most of our team had season-best performances, which is especially impressive considering the condition of the course," Whitman coach Malcolm Dunn said. "A wet and sloppy start, and soft ground, resulted in slower times for the top runners. Whitman's runners, however, all moved up relative to the front runners in the conference.
"The team scoring did not indicate how well our men ran," Dunn added. "We very easily could have placed fifth or sixth
on the men's side, if a few things had gone a little differently. The encouraging thing is that all but our seventh
runner, Zach Britton, will be returning for next year."
"On the women's side, we had a number of nagging injuries and small events that hampered our performance," Dunn said. "A couple of our runners, however, had very good outings, especially Sarah McConnell and Alex Pogue. They both finished much higher in the conference standings than they had earlier in the season."
McConnell, a senior, placed 28th in 23:54.40. She missed her junior season while on foreign study and was unable to run at the conference championships as a sophomore due to injury. Pogue, a first-year runner, had Whitman's sixth-best time, finishing 68th in 25:42.20.
Rounding out the women's top five, and completing Whitman's team score, were first-year runner Kate Ceronsky, 41st, 24:22.10; junior Caitlin Kearney, 53rd, 24:46.40; and senior Ashley Joyce-Sommerfeld, 67th, 25:43.00. Both Kearney and Joyce-Sommerfeld had been slowed in recent days by foot and ankle injuries.
Sam Clark, a junior, had the next best finish for the Whitman men, placing 36th in 27:14.80. Clark, slowed by a hip flexor strain, still enjoyed his best finish in three trips to the conference championships. He placed 43rd as a sophomore and 56th as a freshman.
Others in the top five for the Missionary men were sophomore Kevin Van Meter, 41st, 27:29.40; junior Elliot Brian, 42nd, 27:29.90; and freshman Ian Bell, 50th, 27:58.00. Van Meter finished 64th in last year's championship race. Brian was 75th and 60th in his first two championship races.
Also running for the Whitman men on Saturday were junior Eli Asch, 53rd, 27:59.60; senior Zach Britton, 58th, 28:06.20; sophomore Tim Marrinan, 65th, 28:14.70; junior Adam Kopet, 70th, 28:43.80; and freshman Nick Littman, 72nd, 28:53.70.
Others competing for the Missionary women were junior Emma Lohr, 74th, 26:24.10; first year Mia Huth, 76th, 26:36.20; senior Kat Magid, 26:56.70; and first year Gia Matzinger, 79th, 27:14.10.
Willamette's Nick Symmonds won the men's race in 25:18.10, leading the Bearcats to their fifth consecutive men's title. Puget Sound's Frank Prince was the runner-up in 25:22.30, pacing the Loggers to second place in the team scoring.
Lewis & Clark's Carla McHattie won the women's race in 22:05.40. Willamette's Sarah Zerzan was second in 22:12.20, leading the Bearcat women to her fourth straight title.
Next up for Whitman's top 14 runners is the NCAA Div. III West Regionals, set for Saturday, Nov. 12, on the same course at Bush Pasture Park in Salem. The Missionaries will send seven men and seven women to regionals.
The Whitman cross country teams, running short-handed and hobbled a bit by injury and illness, placed 12th at the NCAA Div. III West Regional Saturday afternoon at Bush Pasture Park in Salem, Ore.
The women's squad, competing without its top runner, finished 12th with 277 points in a field that included 14 full teams and several individual runners. Whitman senior Laura Valaas, an NCAA All-American in Nordic skiing, missed Saturday's cross country race to compete in an early season ski race in Alaska.
The Missionary men, also competing in a field of 14 full teams, placed 12th with 318 points. Junior Sam Clark and sophomore Kevin Van Meter, hampered by health problems, ran slower than expected times.
"Both of our teams our small enough and fragile enough that it only takes one or two runners to really affect our team scores," Whitman coach Malcolm Dunn said. "The only thing that kept us out of the top 10 in the team scoring in both races is the fact that we were running at less than full strength."
Had Valaas run Saturday and contributed an average finish, the Whitman women would have jumped from 12th to eighth place in the final scoring, Dunn projected.
Junior Caitlin Kearney turned in Whitman's top finish on the women's side, placing 43rd in 24:09.70 on a 6,000-meter course that was wet and sloppy from recent rains. Senior Sarah McConnell was close behind in 45th place with a time of 24:12.50. First-year runner Kate Ceronsky was next, placing 51st in 24:18.80.
Senior Ashley Joyce-Sommerfeld and first-year runner Alex Pogue rounded out Whitman's top five, and team score, by placing 69th and 95th, respectively, with times of 24:46.35 and 26:05.55.
"As a group, our women ran well, but Caitlin and Ashley had our best races today, relative to where they finished against the competition," Dunn said.
Senior Kat Magid and first-year runner Mia Huth also ran for the Missionaries. Magid was 97th in 26:22.65, while Huth was 99th in 26:31.55.
In the men's 8,000 meters, sophomore Brian Woods was the top Missionary runner, placing 45th in 27:09.10. Junior Elliot Brian was next, finishing 60th in 27:38.80. "That was a good race by Elliot," Dunn said. "He didn't have a lot left in the tank with 800 meters to go, but he had already put himself in a good position."
Sam Clark, despite having scaled back his training the past month due to a strained hip flexor, placed 71st in 27:56.40. Senior Zach Britton, capping his first year of college running, ran a personal-best time of 28:05.00 to finish 76th.
Kevin Van Meter, slowed all week by illness, battled his way to an 88th-place finish with a time of 28:34.95. Freshman Ian Bell was 90th in 28:41.15, while sophomore Eli Asch was 91st in 28:41.65.
Willamette, Saturday's host school, won the team scoring in both races. The Bearcat men won with 60 points, edging Pomona-Pitzer by just two points. The Willamette women took first with 67 points, beating runner-up Claremont-Mudd-Scripps by 22 points. The top two teams in each race advance to the NCAA National Championships.
Willamette's Sarah Zerzan won the women's race in 21:58.00. Kim Sonne, running for CMS, was second in 22:15.50.
Crosby Freeman, running for Pomona-Pitzer, won the men's race in 24:41.35. One of his teammates, Will Leer, was second in 25:09.50.