WSU men’s and women’s cross country kicked off their seasons with the WSU Open Friday afternoon at the Colfax Golf Club in Colfax, Washington.

Wayne Phipps, director of cross country/track and field, said the event was mostly just to get the athletes feet wet and work on the final layout of the course, which will be used for the NCAA Western Regional meet in November.

Senior Josie Brown finished first in the WSU Open women’s 4k with a time of 14:06.6. The WSU women are sitting at the bottom of the West Region.

Sophomore Amir Ado finished the men’s 6k with a first place time of 17:51.9. The WSU men are ranked No. 9 in the West Region.

Despite losing a few seniors from last year, Phipps said he is excited for the opportunity his team has.

“This is a group that’s extremely underrated and I think we are going to surprise a lot of people,” Phipps said.

The Cougars return for the West Region Preview with the women’s race starting at 5:15 p.m. Sept. 13 at the Colfax Golf Club in Colfax, Washington.