News Release Date:
Saturday, September 26

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Led by Kristen Ballinger, Yasmeen Colis and a strong supporting cast, the Whitman College women's tennis team came within a few points of beating NCAA Division I Gonzaga in Saturday's 5,000-meter race at the Erik Anderson Cross Country Invitational in Spokane, Wash.

Kristen Ballinger

Gonzaga took first in the team scoring with 54 place points for its top five finishers. Whitman was second with 60 points while the Spokane Swifts, a club team, was third with 72 points.

Whitworth, one of Whitman's Northwest Conference rivals, was fourth with 81 points -- seven points in front of NAIA-affiliated Lewis-Clark State. The Community Colleges of Spokane, a second Spokane club team, and the University of Great Falls were well back in the last three team slots.

Yasmeen Colis

Ballinger, a junior, finished sixth individually with a time of 19:41.82. Colis, a senior, was eighth in 19:50.20.

Three more seniors rounded out the Missionary team score. Michella Corcorran was 13th in 20:03.05, Heather O'Moore 15th in 20:10.03, and Sara McCune 18th in 20:12.80.

Only 30 seconds separated Whitman’s first and fifth runners. "It was a solid performance across the board on the women’s side," Whitman coach Malcolm Dunn said.

Finishing so close to an NCAA Division I school in the team scoring was exciting to say the leastd, Dunn said. 

"For the women to only be six points off is really cool," he said. "The fact that we were able to match up against them so well is a testament to how strong our team is."

Another sign of the team’s strength came in a match-up with two other teams. Three weeks ago, Whitworth and Lewis-Clark State edged the Whitman women by 14 and seven points, respectively, at Whitman’s home invitational. Today, after three weeks of training, Whitman avenged those losses, beating both teams by 21 and 28 points.

Michela Corcorran

"We’re just getting stronger as the season’s progressing," Dunn said.

Whitman’s eighth runner finished one place ahead of Whitworth’s fifth-place finisher. First-year Missionary Emilie Gilbert led the second half of Whitman’s top ten, finishing 24th in a time of 20:27.139. Behind her came senior captain Emily Rodriguez (28th, 20:34.237), sophomore Sara Levy (33rd, 20:54.232), sophomore Jennifer Farley (36th, 20:58.889) and another first-year runner, Katri Gilbert (38th, 21:02.121).

Whitworth’s Dana Misterek won the race in a time of 19:04.593

A dozen more Missionaries ran in the race. Sophomore Christine Kiely (46th, 21:23.782) and two of her first-year teammates, Claire Baron (56th, 21:48.288) and Shannon McCarty (58th, 21.29.966), finished in under 22 minutes.

Whitman next races a week from today at the Charles Bowles Cross Country Invitational at Bush Park in Salem, Ore.

Report by Andy Jobanek, Whitman Sports Information Intern

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CONTACT: Dave Holden
Sports Information Director
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
509 527-5902; holden@whitman.edu