Cross country weekend roundup (September 4th)...

Here is our roundup of the first full weekend of cross country action in the state of Washington:

WESTERN WASHINGTON--2009 NCAA cross country runner-up and 2010 NACAC under 23 10000m champ Sarah Porter (left/photo courtesy Western Washington University) of Western set a meet record on her one lap around the Lake Padden Park course, running her opening 2.59 mile leg in 13:53 in the relay-style format, and leading her squad to victory, as Porter, Lauren Breihof, Phoebe Hartnett, and Sierra Brisky ran 1:01:27, defeating Western's "B" squad.

In the men's division, the Vikings ran to a 15-second victory over Western Oregon with a time of 54:38. Making up the victorious quartet were Bennett Grimes, Nick Abraham, Yonas Berhe and Chip Jackson.

Western next runs at the Central Washington Invitational next week.

You can read Western Washington's release here.


GONZAGA & EASTERN WASHINGTON: It appears that Gonzaga is a much improved team under second year coach Pat Tyson after their men placed third and their women finished second at the Idaho Cup and Clash of the Inland Northwest meet in Moscow, Idaho.

Idaho swept both the men's and women's team competitions. Markus Geiger of Idaho won the men's 8k in 24:53, while Lewis-Clark's Kelsey Klettke won the women's 5k in 17:49.

Eastern Washington finished fifth in both competitions.

Chris Boyle was Gonzaga's top finisher in fourth at 25:49, and Cody Barton finished 11th to lead the Eagles.

In the women's race, the Bulldogs were led by Kayla Lloyd's third place finish in 18:18, and Angelica Rodriguez was Eastern's top finisher in 13th at 19:11.

You can read Gonzaga's release here.

Both Eastern and Gonzaga return to action in two weeks at the UW's Sundodger Invitational at Lincoln Park in West Seattle.

SEATTLE UNIVERSITY--The Redhawks opened by traveling to the University of North Dakota for the Ron Pynn Classic against UND and South Dakota State.

Junior Erik Barkhaus finished second for SeattleU in the men's 8k race in 25:04, behind winner Michael Krsnak of South Dakota State, who ran 24:59.

Freshman Cara Talty finished third in 18:32 for the Redhawks, as Lindsay Anderson of North Dakota won in 17:51.

UND won the three team women's meet with 28 points, with SDSU second at 44 points, and SeattleU third with 48.

The men's meet was scored as a double dual with SDSU beating SeattleU 19-39. and the Redhawks beating UND 21-40.

SeattleU will run September 10th at the West Coast Preview in Portland, then again on the 18th at the UW's Sundodger Invite.

SeattleU's release can be read here.

SEATTLE PACIFIC--In Fairbanks, Alaska, sophomore Will Harrison's fourth-place individual finish led the Falcons to a low total of 41 points on Saturday at the Alaska Nanook Invitational Short-Course meet at West Ridge Ski Trails on the Alaska Fairbanks campus.

Harrison clocked 13:20 over the 4k course, as Northwest Nazarene's Matt Stark won in 13:01.

The host Nanooks were right behind with 42 points, and Northwest Nazarene was third with 43 in the 4-kilometer race.

In the women’s 4K, Seattle Pacific junior Natty Plunkett came through with another strong run, taking third place, and the Falcons also finished third as a team with 49 points. The host Nanooks won with 32, and Northwest Nazarene was second with 46.

Plunkett crossed the line in 15:27, as Raphaela Sieber of the host school won in 15:20.

Seattle Pacific will run their squad in next week's Central Washington Invitational.

You can read SPU's release here.

NOTE: The sports information offices of Seattle University, Seattle Pacific, Western Washington, Gonzaga, and Eastern Washington all provided content for this article.