Zags earn identical second place finishes at Knott XC Classic; Sanders and Wirth of EWU top individual finishers...
SPOKANE VALLEY--Both Gonzaga squads, which rested their top runners who competed at last week's Loyola Lakefront Invitational, finished second Saturday morning at the Frank Knott XC Classic at The Course.
Eastern Washington's women's team finished third, while their men's squad finished fifth in the meet which featured Division I teams from Idaho, Montana and double team champions Montana State.
In both races, Eastern Washington had the top finisher from the two schools, as Sara Sanders (Paul Merca file photo) and Conner Wirth both placed sixth in their respective races.
Sanders finished in 21:32 over the 6k distance, while Wirth ran 24:07 for 8k.
In the women's 6k, Gonzaga was led by Clare Mullin's eighth place finish in 21:37, followed by Madison Zemper-Prill in tenth at 21:48.
Olivia Sheridan finished 11th in 21:50, followed by Anika Jones in 13th in 21:59.
Ida Meyer closed out Gonzaga's scorers in 17th in 22:09.
The Zags ran a 1-5 split of 32 seconds.
Behind Sanders for Eastern Washington were Lexi Meyer in 16th in 22:09 followed by Hannah Lee in 24th in 22:23. Ifechi Okoye was 25th in 22:24, and Rhiannon Davies was the fifth scorer in 29th in 22:28.
The Eagles ran a 1-5 split of 56 seconds.
Claire Rutherford of Montana State was the individual winner in 20:51, as she led her squad to the team title with a perfect score of 15 points.
In the men's 8k race, Gonzaga used a tight pack to finish second in the team race with 73 points.
The Zags were led by Hayden Roberts in 11th in 24:22, with Gabe McLain 12th in 24:27. Sawyer Clarkson was 15th in 24:36, followed by Zander Trevino in 19th in 24:40, and Caleb Richardson was 21st in 24:42.
Gonzaga's 1-5 split was 20 seconds.
Behind Wirth's sixth place finish for Eastern Washington, Trajn Swalstad was 31st in 25:05. Owen Higgins was next in 38th in 25:18, followed by Jiri Ceska in 49th in 25:32, while Lucas Spurling closed out EWU's scorers in 59th in 25:36.
The Eagles ran a 1-5 split of 1:29 as they finished fifth with a score of 148 points.
Sam Ells of Montana State was the overall winner in 23:43. Montana State won the team title with a low score of 20 points.
Eastern Washington has next week off, while Gonzaga will race at next Friday's Nuttycombe Invitational in Verona, Wisconsin against a nationally ranked field that includes Washington and Washington State.
SEATTLEU TEAMS FINISH FIFTH AND SIXTH AT CHARLES BOWLES INVITATIONAL...
In Salem, Oregon, Seattle University finished fifth in the men's competition over 8k, while their women placed sixth over the 5k distance at the Charles Bowles Invitational Saturday morning.
The Redhawks scored 169 points, as Portland took the team title with a low of 46 points.
Jeremy Posdon was SeattleU's top finisher in 18th place, running 24:38 over the host Willamette University course that loops through McCulloch Stadium and Bush Park.
The Redhawks ran a 1-5 split of 53 seconds.
Austin Key of the University of Nevada won the race in 24:00.
SeattleU scored 164 points to finish sixth, as the University of Hawaii won with a low of 65 points.
Emma Bellomy was the Redhawks' top finisher in 22nd, running the 5k course in 18:07. SeattleU's 1-5 split was 27 seconds.
Latham West of the University of Portland was the individual winner in 16:36.
SeattleU will be off next week.
Complete results of the Charles Bowles Invitational are available here.
NOTE: The sports information offices of Eastern Washington, Gonzaga, and SeattleU contributed to this report.
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