Evans Kurui of WSU breaks course record set by Edward Cheserek in winning Cougar Classic...
COLFAX--While it's still very early in the season, folks might want to take note of the name Evans Kurui (photo courtesy WSU Athletics) from Washington State University.
In what was a preview of the course that will be used for the NCAA West Regional Cross Country championships in November, Washington State's freshman duo of Evans Kurui and Zenah Cheptoo took individual honors Friday afternoon at the WSU Cougar Classic on the Colfax Golf Club.
Kurui destroyed the men's field, winning the race over eight kilometers in a course record time of 22:47, 20 seconds better than the old course record of 23:07 set by Oregon's Edward Cheserek at the 2015 Pac-12 championships, en route to winning the NCAA cross country title that year.
Beating "King Cheserek's" course record may put the Cougar Kenyan in the conversation among the top 15 individuals for the NCAA title in November in Madison, Wisconsin.
The closest runner to Kurui was Brian Kiprotich of Boise State, who was second in 23:38.
Brian Barsaiya of the Cougars was next across the line for his team, finishing fifth in 23:47, while Leif Swanson cracked the top ten in tenth in 24:12.
Gonzaga for the second straight meet sat out several of their top runners, including Olympic Trials qualifier Wil Smith.
The Zags were led by Mason Kissell, who was eighth in 24:08.
Eastern Washington's Noah Hasselblad finished inside the top ten in ninth in 24:10, while Jeremy Posdon was Seattle University's top runner in 69th in 25:21.
In what ended up being a very tight team race, Boise State won with 60, followed by Washington State with 62, and USTFCCCA #30 Gonzaga was third with 64 points.
Eastern Washington finished fifth with 134 points, while Seattle University was 12th in the 14-team field with 352 points.
In the opening women's 6k, Zenah Cheptoo was in a tight battle with Gonzaga's Logan Hofstee, the freshman from East Valley HS in Spokane Valley.
Cheptoo and Hofstee pulled away from the rest of the field early, with Cheptoo, the Pac-12 5000 meter runner-up taking command for good in the final kilometer, winning in 20:04 to Hofstee's 20:09.
Placing in the top ten were Jessica Frydenlund of Gonzaga in fifth in 20:35, Alaina Stone Boggs and Neema Kimtai of Washington State in seventh and eighth with both clocking 20:47; and Keira Saavedra (20:49) & Anna Grabowski (20:57) of Gonzaga in ninth and tenth.
Lilianne Hargreaves was Seattle University's top finisher in 14th in 21:10, while Sara Sanders was the top runner for Eastern Washington in 27th in 21:39.
Despite number 25 Gonzaga missing several key runners, including All-American Rosina Machu, who, like Smith in the men's race, sat out her second straight meet, the Zags had enough to take the team title with 39 points.
Washington State was third with 50 points, while Eastern Washington was fifth with 152, and SeattleU seventh with 174 points in the 13-team field.
NOTE: The sports information offices of Washington State, Gonzaga, Eastern Washington and Seattle University contributed to this report.
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