WSU cross country competes in two meets over weekend
Cougars traveled to two different states, teams all finished within top 30
KIERSTEN BUTTERWORTH | DAILY EVERGREEN FILE
The 2018 WSU women’s cross country team and joining alumni start their race Aug. 31 at the Colfax Golf Club.
October 14, 2018
The WSU men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in Madison, Wisconsin, for Pre-Nationals and Lewiston, Idaho, for the Inland Empire Championships, respectively, on Saturday.
The No. 17 WSU men’s team finished 10th with senior Chandler Teigen finishing first for the team, 26th overall, with a time of 24:16.
No. 2 Brigham Young University finished first overall in the white race.
The No. 14 in the West Region WSU women’s team finished 26th with freshman Emma Jenkins finishing first for the team, 74th overall, with a time of 21:33.2.
No. 3 University of New Mexico women’s team finished first in the white race.
In the Pre-Nationals Cardinal race, No. 1 Northern Arizona University finished first on the men’s side and No. 7 University of Arkansas finished first on the women’s side.
At the Inland Empire Championships, Gonzaga University finished first overall for the men and WSU finished second with a team score of 68.
The Cougars had four men place in the top 20. Redshirt sophomore Andrew Cooper finished first for the team and seventh overall. Cooper said it was great effort by everyone and there were a lot of guys who ran personal records on a tough course.
Junior Cameron Dean finished the race in ninth place overall, second for WSU, with a time of 24:42.
“Preparation has been going well for everyone,” Dean said. “The whole team, from the first guy down to the last guy, is really clicking right now.”
The WSU women’s team finished fifth overall and had three women finish in the top 20.
Sophomores Samantha King-Shaw and Pia Richards finished 14th and 15th with the same time of 18:06. Junior Marie Gaudin finished four seconds behind them with a time of 18:10.
Richards said 18:06 was a personal record from her high school time of 18:10, which she set her junior year. She added it’s the first time since her stress fracture that she really feels back.
The course had some route changes with the building of the new Lewiston High School that added hairpin turns. The race also started on an uphill instead of a downhill. The team has raced on this course before but had to quickly learn the changes.
The Cougars will be heading to Stanford, California, on Oct. 26 for the Pac-12 Cross Country Championships.
