Suver, Felnagle & Dressel earn spots on world cross country champs squad...

BOULDER, Colorado—Eastern Washington University alum Mattie Suver (left/photo by Paul Merca) finished second in the open women’s race at the USA Cross Country Championships at the Flatirons Golf Course to earn her second straight world cross country team spot.

In a bit of a mild surprise, Tacoma’s Brie Felnagle worked her way up from the pack to finish fourth and secure a berth on the world championship team that travels to Guiyang, China at the end of March, while Angela Bizzarri of the Brooks Beasts was four seconds short of making the team.

Suver crossed the line in 28:13, 31 seconds behind winner Laura Thweatt, and eight seconds ahead of veteran Jen Rhines.

Bizzarri finished in a time of 28:33.

Washington alum Christine Babcock finished 13th in 29:06.

John Dressel of Mt. Spokane HS finished third in a time of 25:39 to grab a spot on the world junior team, as high schooler Conner Mantz emerged victorious in a time of 25:12.

Washington freshman Fred Huxham, who was in contention for most of the race, finished eighth in 26:17, 19 seconds away from the sixth and final spot to Guiyang.

Complete results from the USA Cross Country Championships are available here.

In Albuquerque, Washington’s Diamara Planell Cruz cleared a season best 13-11.75 (4.26m) to highlight the Husky performance at the University of New Mexico Collegiate Classic.

Washington’s release is available here.

In Pullman, heptathlete Dino Dodig scored a personal best score of 5484 points to win the multi-event competition at the Cougar Indoor Track & Field meet at the WSU indoor facility.

Dodig, leader after the first day’s events, Saturday ran the high hurdles in a time of 8.37 seconds, pole vaulted a PR height of 15-feet 9 inches (4.80m) and ran the 1000m in a time of 3 minutes 0.93 seconds.

“I think it was a good performance until the last event,” Dodig said. “I need to change some habits and start drinking more water and those cramps are going to go away. It’s my fault and I learned a lesson today that sometimes coffee cannot replace water.”

WSU’s release and a link to final results are available here.

NOTE:  The sports information office of the University of Washington and Washington State University contributed to this report.