Sept. 16, 2006

Complete Results

SEATTLE, Wash. --- Western Washington University sophomore Anthony Tomsich (Fairbanks, AK/West Valley) finished 12th in a time of 25:17 as the Viking men placed second among 28 teams at the 15th annual Sundodger Cross Country Invitational on Saturday at Lincoln Park.

The Western women were 11th, led by freshman Ashley McDougall (Redmond, WA), who finished 35th with a time of 22:58.

"I'm really happy with our results today," said Western head coach Pee Wee Halsell. "We saw a lot of improvement from a lot of individuals today and we ran great group races on both sides."

Chico State, ranked No.4 in the National Cross Country Coaches Association Top 25 and the defending West Region champion, captured the men's title, placing four runners in the top 17 and finishing with 80 points. Western, rated No.20, had 98 points with six runners in the top 30.

The Vikings easily outdistanced the five other West Region teams participating, all Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponents. Alaska Anchorage, ranked No.17 nationally, finished fifth (183), Central Washington eighth (249), Seattle Pacific 10th (296), Seattle U. 18th (545)and Northwest Nazarene 22nd (621).

"Running so well within our region this early in the season is a great accomplishment," Halsell said. "We still have plenty of room to improve, but it is very encouraging."

In addition to Tomsich's effort in the 8-kilometer race, the Vikings also received top-25 performances from three seniors. Logan Senrud (Bigfork, MT) placed 21st in 25:29, and Chad Portwood (Cheney/Western State) and Sam Brancheau (Edmonds/Edmonds-Woodway) finished 23rd (25:30) and 25th (25:32), respectively. Alaska Anchorage's David Kiplagat took top honors with a 24:38 clocking.

McDougall paced the Western women for the second week in a row. The Vikings also received strong showings from freshman McKinley Williams (Federal Way/Todd Beamer), who placed 57th with a time of 23:32 over the 6-kilometer course, junior Marissa Harshman (Vancouver/Heritage), 78th in 23:57, and senior Molly DePasqual (Sr., Jackson, WY), 84th in 24:05.

"Ashley ran a great race for us," Halsell said. "More importantly, we ran well as a group and had solid performances up and down our lineup." Simon Fraser won the women's team titlein the 23-team field with a low score of 59 points. GNAC rival Seattle Pacific finished second with 71 points, led by the first-place individual finish of Jessica Pixler (21:35).

Western next competes at the Saint Martin's University Invitational on Sat., Sept. 23 (10 a.m.) at Lacey.

MEN

TEAM RESULTS - 1. Chico State 80, 2. Western Washington 98, 3. Concordia OR 128, 4. Spokane CC, 138, 5. Alaska Anchorage 183, 6. Lewis-Clark State 190, 7. Puget Sound 194, 8. Central Washington 249, 9. Whitworth 280, 10. Seattle Pacific 296, 11. Simon Fraser 305, 12. George Fox 318, 13. Lane CC 321, 14. British Columbia 360, 15. Whitman 408, 16. Eastern Oregon 420, 17. Lewis and Clark 490, 18. Seattle U. 545, 19. Clark 547, 20. Clackamas CC 591, 21. Evergreen State 600, 22. Northwest Nazarene 621, 23. Pacific Univ. 623, 24. Northwest Univ. 657, 25. Club NW 674, 26. Pacific Lutheran 683, 27. Everett CC 725, 28. Bellevue CC 799.

WWU INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (8K) - 12. Anthony Tomsich, 25:17; 21. Logan Senrud, 25:29; 23. Chad Portwood, 25:30; 25. Sam Brancheau, 25:32; 28. Keever Henry, 25:40; 29. Bul Nyuop, 25:40; 30. Keith Lemay, 25:41; 39. Sam Bedell, 25:58; 64, Josh Beck, 26:23; 70. Casey Barten, 26:25; 73. Greg Kubitz, 26:27; 82. Cale McCulloch, 26:41; 110. Kyle Lampi, 26:57; 125. Josh Frazier, 27:10.

TOP 10 - 1. David Kiplagat UAA 24:38, 2. Tim Badley CU 24:45, 3. David Wambui SFU 24:53, 4. Shane Carlos UBC 24:54, 5. Dylan Gant SFU 24:55, 6. Angel Marquez Chico 24:57, 7. Kellen Peters PU 24:58, 8. Calin Hantau LC St. 25:00, 9. Aaron Galbraith LC St. 25:08, 10. Dan Pollard UPS 25:10.

WOMEN

TEAM RESULTS - 1. Simon Fraser 59, 2. Seattle Pacific 71, 3. Chico State 80, 4. Puget Sound 181, 5. Cal State L.A. 221, 6. British Columbia 245, 7. Alaska Anchorage 247, 8. Lewis-Clark State 270, 8. Whitworth 270, 10. Lewis and Clark 298, 11. Western Washington 302, 12. George Fox 308, 13. Central Washington 331, 14. Whitman 333, 15. Northwest Univ. 362, 16. Eastern Oregon 374, 17. Seattle U. 407, 18. Spokane CC 443, 19. Pacific Lutheran 496, 20. Clark 502, 21. Mount Hood CC 555, 22. Lane CC 649, 23. Concordia OR 713.

WWU INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (6K) - 35. Ashley McDougall, 22:58; 57. McKinley Williams, 23:32; 78. Marissa Harshman, 23:57; 84. Molly DePasqual, 24:05; 103. Danielle Slaughter, 24:18; 104. Emily Mosich, 24:19; 109. Keely Kaligis, 24:21; 114. Catherine McDonald, 24:26; 141. Amy Olson, 24:54; 163. Ellie Reff, 25:22; 165. Nicole D'Amico, 25:24; 174. Kami Burse, 25:29; 177. Allison Graham, 25:33; 192. Kathleen Weinand, 25:49; 199. Valerie Matthews, 26:05.

TOP 10 - 1. Jessica Pixler SPU 21:35, 2. Rebecca Johnstone SFU 21:38, 3. Mary Torres Chico 21:42, 4. Kristen Kolstad SFU 21:44, 5. Karla Alburez CSU L.A. 21:47, 6. Becky Guyette u-BSU 21:54, 7. Tamma Carleton L&C 22:03, 8. Sarah Montez Chico 22:04, 9. Meredith McGregor SFU 22:05, 10. Mary Moriarty SPU 22:13.