Zags score perfect 15 in sweeping field at Clash of the Inland Northwest season opener...

In Spokane Valley, Gonzaga (photo of men's finish courtesy Gonzaga Athletics) put on a strong performance in scoring a perfect 15 on the field in both the women's and men's races at the Clash of the Inland Northwest, which was contested at The Course Spokane Valley, the city's new dedicated cross country course.

The meet moved from Cheney to Spokane Valley after its soft opening at last year's West Coast Conference championship meet in the course's first full year of operation.

In the opening women's 6k race, true freshman Sloan Dickson, last year's Washington 2A cross country champion while at Lynden, took the win in 20:23, as the Zags went 1-5 in interim head coach McKenna Hansen's debut.

She was followed by Maria Taggi (20:34), Audrey Orme (20:38), Charlotte Dillon (20:45). and Emma Taggi (20:53), as the Zags ran a 1-5 split of 30 seconds, while sitting out last year's NCAA qualifiers Logan Hofstee and Jessica Frydenlund.

Eastern Washington was led by Sara Sanders, who finished eleventh in 21:45, followed by Rhiannon Davies in 16th in 22:02.

Lexi Meyer finished 21st in 22:16, followed by Hannah Lee in 26th in 22:29, and Ifechi Okoye in 28th in 22:36.

The Eagles' 1-5 split was 51 seconds.

Eastern finished third in the nine team field with 84 points, ten points off of second place Northwest Nazarene's 74 points.

The men's 8k was more of the same for Gonzaga, scoring a perfect 15 as redshirt freshman Dylan Weniger took the win in 23:50, followed by Sawyer Marquis, Dylan Rowell and Logan Law together in that order in 23:52.

Ryan Mitchell was Gonzaga's final scorer in fifth in 24:03, as the team's 1-5 split was an impressive 13 seconds.

Eastern Washington was led by Conner Wirth in 13th in 24:29, followed by Charlie Ledwith in 22nd in 24:47.

Grady Fournier was 25th in 24:54, and Trajn Swalstad one place behind in 24:57. Evan Cheney was the Eagles' final scorer in 42nd in 25:39.

Eastern finished with a 1-5 split of 1:10.

The Eagles finished second to Gonzaga with 79 points, to edge out fellow Big Sky rival Idaho's 82 points in the nine-team field.

Gonzaga next competes on September 25th at the Lakefront Invitational in Chicago, hosted by Loyola, while Eastern Washington goes to Missoula for the Montana Invitational on September 18th.

Complete results of the Clash of the Inland Northwest are available here.

WOODRUFF FINISHES FOURTH IN DIAMOND LEAGUE FINALS...

In Brussels, Washington alum Gianna Woodruff ran a season best in a fourth place finish in the 400 hurdles at the Van Damme Memorial meet, the final meet of the 15-meet Wanda Diamond League tour.

Competing in a slightly cooler temperature (66 degrees, with a slight drizzle), Woodruff, the Panamanian national record holder, ran a season best 53.36.

Training partner Anna Cockrell of the USA won the race in 53.01

Woodruff was the only athlete with Washington ties competing Friday. 

The meet continues Saturday, with defending Diamond League champion and former Pullman resident Katie Moon, along with Washington's Hana Moll will compete in the women's pole vault starting at 10:55 am Pacific Saturday.

Moll goes into Saturday's competition on a two straight Wanda Diamond League winning streak, winning in Lausanne and Zürich.

Day one results of the Wanda Diamond League finals are available here.

CENTRAL OPENS SEASON SATURDAY WITH CWU XC OPENER...

Central Washington opens its season Saturday morning, as they host Saint Martin's University in the CWU XC Opener on the school's athletic fields behind Nicholson Pavilion, with the start on the west side of the baseball field, and finish on the east edge of Tomlinson Stadium.

The meet will mark the debut of Washington alum Bruce Jackson as head coach at Saint Martin's, after previous stops at Academy of Art University in San Francisco, and most recently, at UNC Greensboro.

While there are a number of questions concerning the SMU squad, which is in rebuild mode, there are no questions regarding the host Wildcats' women's team, which were ranked second in the GNAC pre season coaches poll.

Central will be led by Payton Conover and Maddy Harrison. Conover was a two time GNAC scorer on the track and was their top finisher in last year's GNAC cross country championships, while Harrison finished in the top 30 in last year's NCAA West Regional meet.

On the men's side, Central is in rebuilding mode with only sophomore Weston Breen and junior Charles Naught returning to the roster.

The men's 5K race kicks things off at 9:30 am. with the women's 5K race following at 10:00 am.

NOTE: The sports information offices of Gonzaga, Eastern Washington, Central Washington, Saint Martin's, and the Wanda Diamond League contributed to this report.

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