Central Washington sweeps Saint Martin's in CWU XC Opener...

CENTRALIA--Central Washington's women's and men's cross country teams earned a sweep of Saint Martin's University Saturday morning at the CWU XC Opener 5k race on the athletic fields on the campus of Central Washington University.

The Wildcat women, who the GNAC coaches voted in their pre-season poll as the second best team in the conference behind defending champion Western Washington, took the first five places and had a 47-second 1-5 split to take the team win by a 15-48 count.

Maddy Harrison (CWU Athletics file photo), the reigning GNAC champion this past spring at 10000 meters, led the way, winning in 18:52.

Payton Conover (19:16), Dawn Hulstedt (19:16), Hannah Pidduck (19:29), and Lillian Neff (19:39), followed Harrison in that order.

Kekaimalino Halpern was Saint Martin's first runner across in sixth in 20:01.

In the opening men's 5k race, Central took the first four places in winning the team race by a 22-35 score.

Weston Breen led the way for the Wildcats, winning in 16:37.

Ryan Koenninger was Saint Martin's top finisher, placing fifth in 17:05.

The meet was the debut of Bruce Jackson, a former University of Washington All-American, as head coach of Saint Martin's, after coaching stops at Academy of Art in San Francisco, and most recently, at UNC Greensboro.

Central competes on September 11th at the Cougar Classic hosted by Washington State University in Colfax. Saint Martin's is off until September 19th when they head to Tacoma for the PLU Invitational hosted by Pacific Lutheran.

Complete results of the CWU XC Opener are available here.

In Stirling, Scotland, Washington alum Carley Thomas, who has had a limited racing season in 2026, broke 4:30 in the mile for the first time in her career at the Monument Mile Classic Saturday night.

Thomas ran 4:28.34, as former Virginia Tech standout Lindsey Butler won the race in 4:26.60.

Thomas' previous personal best was 4:30.38, set in 2024 at the UW Indoor Preview.

Results of the Monument Mile are available here.

NOTE: The sports information office of Central Washington and the Monument Mile 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. You can also support the site by clicking the yellow "Buy Me A Coffee" link below or the blue icon on the lower right hand side.