Western's Sarah Porter gets third in Louisville...
Porter ran the 5-kilometer distance in 16:58. Placing first was Neely Spence from Shippensburg in a course record 16:33, followed by Kristie Krueger from Georgia in 16:38. Another Viking, Lauren Breihof, was 35th in 17:47.
"Sarah looked really good," said Western coach Pee Wee Halsell. "She moved up to third early in the race and stayed there."
Western also had three competitors in the men's gold division. Jordan Welling placed 51st, having a time of 24:44 over the 8-kilometer distance. Bennett Grimes was 55th in 24:46, and Blake Medhaug 107th in 25:14. Meshack Koyiaki from Columbus State finished first among the 322 runners in 23:21.
"The main reason for coming here was to get these guys some really good competition and to see the national course," Halsell said. "It's a flat course, that's really hot and dry right now. But that will change when we come back."
"All of our people looked really good today."
That despite being a little travel weary as they flew all day Friday, arriving at their hotel at 11 p.m., and got up at 6:30 a.m.
The Vikings next compete on Oct. 9 in their own WWU Preview meet at Lake Padden Park.
Complete results from the Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic are available here.
In Salem, Oregon, former O'Dea HS and University of Portland standout Michael Kilburg won the men's 8k Gold race in 23:54 at the Charles Bowles Invitational, hosted by Willamette University.
In the Cardinal section, featuring schools from around the Pacific Northwest, Marko Cheseto from Alaska Anchorage won the race in 23:19, followed by four runners from the University of Portland, led by 2009 US junior cross country champ Trevor Dunbar, who led the Pilots to the team title by running 23:23.
Whitworth, nationally ranked in NCAA Division III finished tenth with 269 points, with Whitman from Walla Walla 15th with 474, and Seattle Pacific 16th at 488.
The University of Puget Sound was 19th with 545, and Pacific Lutheran 20th with 576 points.
In the women's Cardinal race, Miriam Kipng'eno of Alaska Anchorage made it a sweep of the individual titles for the GNAC school, winning in 17:20.
Whitworth's women's team, led by Tonya Turner's 12th place finish, finished seventh with 257 points, as the University of Idaho won the title with 55 points.
Whitman was 15th at 449 points, while Puget Sound was 19th with 532 points, followed by Pacific Lutheran in 20th at 544, and Seattle Pacific 21st at 553.
Complete results from the Charles Bowles Invitational are available here.
NOTE: The sports information offices at Seattle Pacific, Western Washington, and Willamette University contributed to this report.
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