Everett Cross Country Competes at 50th Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational

SALEM, Ore. — The Everett Community College men's and women's cross country teams continued their fall campaign at the 50th Annual Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational, one of the largest collegiate meets in the Northwest. The meet brought together more than 25 college programs from across the West Coast, including NCAA Division I, II, NAIA, and NWAC schools, for a competitive day of racing on Willamette University's historic course.

Women's 5K

The Trojan women placed 26th overall in the 5,000-meter race, finishing with a team total of 1:44:40 and an average time of 20:56. Freshman Lily Rock led the way for Everett, clocking a strong 20:05.6 to place 144th in a field stacked with Division I competition. She was closely followed by Teagan Pentz (20:34.1, 165th), and Taya Kilgore (20:48.2, 183rd) who set a new 5k PR.  Reda Long (20:51.3, 145th), and Halle McClain ( 22:20.2, 239th) rounded the rest of Everett's scoring pack, sophomores while Ariel Rodriguez and Amelia Koon each set 5k PR's.  Freshman Heidi McKinley ran in her first collegiate 5k and beat out 13 NWAC opponents.  

Everett's collective effort helped the Trojans edge out Umpqua Community College in the team standings and stay competitive with other NWAC programs such as Lane and Clackamas. The performance marked continued progress for a young squad gaining valuable experience against high-caliber collegiate programs.  With most NWAC schools competing in a 5k this season, the Trojans now rank 3rd in the NWAC at that distance as a team.  

Men's 8K

The Trojans faced off against more than two dozen four-year university and club programs, many from NCAA Division I and II levels, and still delivered a determined team effort highlighted by strong front-running and tight pack work.

Freshman Kenenisa Udo once again led the charge for Everett, finishing 76th overall in a time of 25:27.9, averaging 5:07 per mile. His performance not only placed him among the top junior college finishers in the race but also marked one of his fastest collegiate 8k efforts to date.

Sophomore Charlie Roberts was the next Trojan across the line, improving his 8k time by over 2 minutes from the last race and setting a new collegiate PR at 27:13.8 for 190th place. He was followed closely by Hector Mendoza at 27:46.3 (PR) and rounding out Everett's top five were two more steady contributors, Isaac Pratt and William Pyeatt who finished within 3 seconds of one another and both PR'd. 

The team's performance placed Everett ahead of five other NWAC schools, and moved the squad up to ranked 5th in the NWAC at the 8k distance.  

Up Next

Everett will have one more meet to prepare for the upcoming Northwest Region Championship and NWAC Championship races.  Next on the docket in two weeks will be another trip down to Oregon, this time at the George Oja invite hosted by Linfield College.