WEEKEND RECAP: Vikings take second at their own WWU Classic, plus marathon weekend...
Saturday in Bellingham, the Western Washington mens’ and womens’ squads finished second at their own Western Washington Classic cross country meet at Sudden Valley Golf Course.
In the opening women’s 6k race, the Alaska Anchorage duo of Nancy Jeptoo and Emmanuelah Chelimo finished 1-2 in times of 21:37 and 21:40.
Seattle Pacific, which ran without their All-American Kaylee Mitchell, was led instead by Dania Holmberg (left/photo by Jamie Lilly for SPU Athletics), who finished fifth in 22:02, and were helped by an eighth place finish by Kate Lilly in 22:15.
Meanwhile, the host Vikings were led by junior Jane Barr’s ninth place finish in 22:18.
The story of the day in the women’s team race was how the #18 ranked Vikings placed all five of its scoring runners in the top 30.
Behind Barr were Tovah Swartz-Ireland (22:35) in 21st, Tracy Melville (22:39) in 25th, Sophia Galvez (22:41) in 26th, and Rebecca Lehman (22:42) in 27th.
Meanwhile, Seattle Pacific, which went into the meet ranked number 7 in the USTFCCCA national poll, could only counter with Katherine Walter (23:04) in in 34th, Kelsey Washenberger (23:13) in 39th, and Elizabeth Thompson (23:25) in 47th.
Number 4 ranked Chico State won the meet with 51 points, with the Vikings second at 88 points. Alaska Anchorage, ranked number 15 in the national poll, was third with 93 points, while Seattle Pacific was fourth with 111 points.
Central Washington was tenth with 221 points, led by Lily Tyrell’s 46th place finish in 23:19, and Saint Martin’s was eleventh with 343 points, as Elaina Hansen was their top finisher in 81st in 24:38.
Needless to say, there will be some shuffling in the USTFCCCA national rankings when the national poll is released on Wednesday the 16th.
In the men’s 10k, it was a runaway up front between Alaska Anchorage’s Felix Kemboi (31:38) and Chico State’s Trad Berti (31:41), with the Seawolves’ Wesley Kirui third in 31:51.
Chico State, which entered the meet ranked number 3 in the USTFCCCA national poll and the only nationally ranked team in the field, placed six runners in the top ten, and eight in the top 12 to run away with the team title, scoring 24 points.
Western Washington was a distant second with 97 points, led by Eric Hamel’s 15th place finish in 32:39.
Seattle Pacific was eighth with 188 points, led by Colin Boutin, who was 30th in 32:59, while Central Washington was tenth with 247 points.
The Wildcats were led by Trevor Allen, who was 33rd in 33:08, while Saint Martin’s was 11th in the 14-team field with 318 points, led by Andrew Oslin’s 51st place finish in 33:36.
Complete results of the Western Washington Classic are available here.
In Lewiston, Idaho, the Gonzaga women’s team picked up a second place finish at the Inland Empire Championships Saturday, hosted by Lewis-Clark State at the Lewiston Orchards.
Jaxon Mackie paced the GU men with an eighth-place finish, and Alicia Anderson led the Bulldog women with a 10th place finish.
Mackie ran 24:05. Ben Hogan crossed the line in 19th at 24:29. Matthew Roberts was 25th with a time of 24:41. Alex Walde (24:49) and Bradley Rzewnicki (24:50) placed 31st and 32nd to round out the Gonzaga scorers.
Anderson's time of 17:51 was just ahead of teammate, Brittney Hansen's 17:51 finish. The Zags' Makenna Edwards (17:57) and Paxton Depoe (18:02) were 15th and 16th. Alyssa Bienfang and Claire Gillett were close behind in 18th and 19th at 18:04 and 18:09.
Idaho took the women's team title, sweeping the top three scoring spots, and placing its top five runners in the Top-10. The Vandals finished with 19 points as a team. The Bulldogs had 62 points.
Calgary had the top four finishes in the men's race, led by Alex James at 23:29. The Dinos cruised the team win with 21 points. Idaho was second with 55 points.
Gonzaga held out its top ten runners on the men’s side as they prepare to run in this Friday’s Nuttycombe Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin.
Gonzaga’s release is available here.
MARATHON WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTED BY THE FIRST SUB-2 HOUR CLOCKING AND THE DEMOLITION OF PAULA RADCLIFFE’S LONG STANDING WORLD RECORD…
Like Nike’s Breaking2 Challenge in Monza, Italy two years ago, this mark will not be ratified for world record purposes, as it used a series of rotating pacers, including Washington State University legend Bernard Lagat, and 2018-19 University of Washington volunteer coach and defending Olympic 1500 meter champion Matthew Centrowitz.
Afterwards, Kipchoge said, “It is a great feeling to make history in sport after Sir Roger Bannister [set the first sub-four-minute mile] in 1954. I am the happiest man in the world to be the first human to run under two hours and I can tell people that no human is limited. I expect more people all over the world to run under two hours after today.”
You can read all about it, and rewatch it here on the INEOS 1:59 Challenge site.
Meanwhile on Sunday at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, defending champion Brigid Kosgei of Kenya wiped out Great Britain’s Paula Radcliffe’s course record of 2:17:18 and her world record of 2:15:25, set in London in 2003 in one fell swoop, running 2:14.04.
Illinois native and University of Washington alum Lindsay Flanagan, who already has the Olympic Games qualifying standard by finishing in the top ten at Boston earlier this year, lowered her personal best to 2:28:08, a 1:17 improvement from her previous best, set in Frankfurt.
“If anything, it’s just giving me confidence,” she said. “I ran well on the hilly course in Boston and then got a PR here, so let’s just keep this trending in the right direction heading into the Trials.”
On the men’s side, Sehome HS alum Jake Riley, who underwent Achilles tendon surgery last year, and left the Hanson’s-Brooks Distance Project to train in Boulder under Lee Troop, returned to elite level racing with his ninth place finish in 2:10:36, 54 seconds under the Olympic Games qualifying standard.
“This is the first race where I've actually felt like the old me beforehand—or actually a better me, because I have two good Achilles now,” he said to Runner’s World afterwards.
Results of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon are available here.
NOTE: The sports information offices of Western Washington University, Seattle Pacific, Gonzaga, along with the INEOS 1:59 Challenge and the Bank of America Chicago Marathon contributed to this report.
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