University of Oregon’s annual Bill Dellinger Cross Country Invitational at the Pine Ridge Golf Club was the first test for the Cougs against Pac-12 opposition.

The invitational on Sept. 23 was a large meet, with 12 schools represented along with some runners not affiliated with a University. It was the first chance for the team to race against the schools they will have to beat to come out on top later in the year at the PAC-12 meets. The weather held up nicely, with a moderate temperature and no wind, making a perfect situation for the runners.

Times and placements were sourced from and can be found on Athletic.net.

The WSU men’s team finished fifth, with a score of 120. Standing out for the Cougs was sophomore Brian Barsaiya, who came third with an eight-kilometer time of 23:46. This was only about five seconds behind the first-place finisher. While it was not a personal best, it is a fantastic showing and bodes well for the star runner from Kenya. The next Cougars came in close together at 25th and 27th, sophomores Kelvin Limo and Leif Swanson respectively.

The women’s team saw similar success in their six-kilometer race, with sophomore Alaina Stone Boggs coming in fifth with a massive PR of 20:07, about 23 seconds faster than her previous record. She was not the only success story of the day for the women’s team and Stone-Boggs credited new coach Laura Harmon with a lot of that success.

“Now that we have another women’s head coach we get a little more attention and she goes at it a little bit differently,” Stone Boggs said. “She’s got a strategy, she’s got a plan and that has a lot to do with our performance.”

Other personal records on the day for the Cougar women came from Caroline Jerotich, who came in two seconds behind Stone Boggs in sixth place and Pietra Da Silva, who came in 31st. Not setting a PR but still performing well on the day was Neema Kimtai, who came in 15th.

These PRs and other good races by the Cougs helped to give the women a score of 102, which in a close race put them only two points less than the team in second.

“I want this team to go to nationals and I think it can happen,” Stone Boggs said. “I see that in our future.”

Several great individual performances from Cougs set up what is looking to be a season with lots of potential. Next up for the Cougs is a meet closer to home at the Inland Empire Challenge, which will take place on Oct. 8 at Lewis and Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho.