Yorks wins Sundodger, but Cougs take Sundodger team title again; UW grabs women's title...
SEATTLE—Izaic Yorks (left/photo by Paul Merca) of the University of Washington used his sub-4 minute mile speed in the final lap to emerge victorious in the men’s invitational section of the Sundodger Invitational Saturday, but it was the Cougars of Washington State that successfully defended their team title, upsetting the #21 Huskies on the 8k course
The race began with the Huskies’ Yorks and Fred Huxham in front with a group of runners close behind, including Tulane’s Kenyan standout Moses Aloiloi.
In the second lap, Aloiloi was joined by his teammate Emmanuel Rotich, with former Cougars Drew Polley and Andrew Kimpel in the front.
The group of front runners stayed the same, though the Cougars had a group of four runners in the front group, giving their fans hope that they could repeat and pick off the Huskies on their home turf.
Entering the last lap, the two Tulane runners began fading, as the group of Cougs, led by eventual runner-up Michael Williams began moving towards the front.
Yorks pulled away to win in 24:06, with Williams of WSU second in 24:09.
Huxham took third in 24:11. then came a group of four Cougars—John Whelan (24:15), Nathan Wadhwani (24:22), Sam Levora (24:27), and Chandler Teigen (24:29), in 4-5-7-and-8, with only Cougar alum Kimpel splitting the group of four.
The Huskies’ Johnathan Stevens (24:30) and Andrew Gardner (24:34) rounded out the top ten, with All-American Tyler King the fifth scorer in 14th place (24:45).
Clay Weaver was Seattle University’s top finisher in 20th in 25:13.
The Cougs took the team title with 24 points, ten lower than the Huskies. SeattleU was third with 113, followed by Tulane with 128.
WSU head coach Wayne Phipps was pleased with the team’s effort, noting that they had a heavy training load, and that they executed the race plan, which was to run controlled for the first three loops, and to race on the final lap.
In the women’s invitational 6k, Sarah Inglis of Trinity Western took command halfway through and coasted to an easy 9-second win, clocking 20:23 to beat Washington All-American Maddie Meyers, who ran 20:32.
Behind Meyers were three young Dawgs—freshman Charlotte Prouse (20:35), soph Anna Maxwell (20:48), and frosh Lindsey Bradley (20:49).
Regan Yee (20:49) and Lisa Brooking (20:54) of Trinity Western were 6-7, followed by CharLee Linton of Washington State (20:56). Former WSU volunteer coach Emma Kertesz of Club Northwest was ninth in 21:03, and Mackenzie Landa of Fresno State rounded out the top ten in 21:06.
SeattleU was led by Lila Rice, who finished 28th in 22:01.
The #14 Huskies easily took the Sundodger team title with 17 points, with WSU a distant second with 88 points. Nevada was third with 93 points, followed by Portland State at 130. SeattleU was sixth with 156 points.
In the first race of the day, Seattle Pacific’s Anna Patti stayed patient through the first two laps, and then opened up a lead to take the victory in the open women’s 6k, featuring all of the state’s GNAC schools.
Patti let early leaders Mirelle Martens of Trinity Western and Rebecca Bassett of Simon Fraser do the early pacesetting before taking command on the last loop, winning in 21:12.
“I knew it was hard to predict with this race if there are going to be some good individuals or good teams that come," said Patti. “I wasn't set on first place because I just didn't know. But I'm glad to have gone out and done so well."
Taylor Guenther of Western Washington’s fifth place finish (21:35) helped propel the Vikings to the team title, scoring 103 points. Cal Baptist was second with 111, followed by Club Northwest with 172 and Seattle Pacific with 175.
Central Washington, who was ranked #22 in the first USTFCCCA Division II national poll, finished a disappointing seventh (210), as All-American Dani Eggleston was 19th (22:08).
In the open men’s 8k, University of Portland freshman Tristan Peloquin, competing unattached, was a surprise winner, as the Gig Harbor HS grad ran 24:12 to beat Simon Fraser’s Oliver Jorgensen by 1 second.
Canada’s Trinity Western took the team title with 45 points, to easily outdistance Simon Fraser’s 91.
Western Washington was third with 103, followed by Division I Fresno State with 110, and Cal Baptist with 126.
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