THE WRAP: Dawgs hang 15 at Charles Bowles; Esvelt wins Chambers Creek Collegiate Open...

In Salem, Oregon, the 13th ranked University of Washington men's cross country team hung a perfect 15 on the field to win the Charles Bowles Invitational at Bush's Pasture Park, hosted by Willamette University Saturday morning,

It was the first outing for the men since their preseason training block. The five Husky point scorers all finished within six seconds of each other. Joe Waskom (#142/Paul Merca photo) led the parade across the line over the 8k course, winning in 23:42. Leo Daschbach was right behind in 23:44 for second and Tibebu Proctor took third in 23:46.

Fourth-place was Luke Houser who came through right next to Proctor in a matching time. New Dawg Ryan Renken, a transfer from Penn, was fifth in 23:48. Sam Affolder completed the top-six sweep as he finished in a time of 24:39, still thirteen seconds clear of the next runner from any other squad.

"It was a well executed race by our guys and they started to spread out a little towards the end, but then came back together on their own, which i thought was great," said Coach Powell. "Our one through five spread was less than ten seconds and they ran a really quality time. The biggest thing is they did a really good job running together and they're showing a lot of maturity and leadership."

Washington's 15 points won the day, with Portland taking second with 74 points, then Humboldt State (133), SeattleU (136), and George Fox (140) in the next three team spots. Central Washington was seventh with 173 points.

Guiliano Scasso, who won the UW/SeattleU Open on September 3rd, was the first non-Husky across the finish line in seventh at 24:53, while Trevor Allen was the first across the line for Central Washington in 20th in 25:28.

In the women's 5k, Seattle University finished third with 87 points, while Central Washington was 13th in the 14-team field with 326 points.

Rowan Cuadrado (18:28), and Emily Harris (18:29) finished inside the top ten for the Redhawks, in 8th and 9th.

Kay Lester was Central's top finisher in 19:54.

Rosa Granados of Humboldt State won in 18:12, while Portland took the team title with 56 points,

Complete results of the Charles Bowles Invitational are available here.

In University Place, Annika Esvelt of host Seattle Pacific won the women's 5k race at the Chambers Creek College Open at Chambers Creek Park.

Esvelt led from gun to tape and pulled away from 2019 NCAA D2 All-American Nancy Jeptoo of GNAC rival Alaska Anchorage to win in 18:33, an 11 second margin over Jeptoo.

"My plan was to stick with the leaders, and then I ended up leading the whole thing," said Esvelt, a sophomore academically, but a freshman in terms of cross country eligibility. "The race was a little slow, but it felt good overall. And the team did really good, so I'm happy with it."

Falcons sophomore Ellie Rising logged another top-5 performance, taking fourth in 18:46.

Sara Sabra of Saint Martin's was the top finisher for the Saints, taking seventh in 19:13 in the meet, which served as the first look for teams hoping to compete in the 2022 NCAA Division II cross country championships on this course.

Northwest University of Kirkland won the team title with 64 points, followed by Alaska Anchorage's 80, then Saint Martin's with 82 and Seattle Pacific with 105.

In the men's 8k race, Cole Nash of Alaska Anchorage won the race in 25:02 to lead the Seawolves to the team title with 56 points.

Northwest University was a close second with 59, followed by Saint Martin's at 96. Seattle Pacific was sixth with 121 points.

John Farrell led the way for the Saints in seventh in 25:55, while Colin Boutin was the top finisher for Seattle Pacific in 14th at 26:26.

Complete results of the Chambers Creek College Open are available here.

NOTE: The sports information offices of Willamette University, Seattle Pacific, Central Washington, Saint Martin's and the University of Washington contributed to this report.

paulmerca.blogspot.com may receive a commission for any purchases made from links clicked. Please support this site and our sponsors by clicking on the links.  

Comments