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Mountaineers Improve Times at Sundodger Invite

 

September 16, 2006

 

by Tim Mollerstrom

Eastern Oregon Sports Information

 

 

Both the Men’s and Women’s teams saw dramatic improvement from last year as many runners were well under their times from the last University of Washington Sundodger Invite.

 

Running in the open division, both teams had runners that bested their previous years time by thirty to sixty seconds.  “You can never complain about a step forward like that, Coach Ben Welch said.  “We had some very good performances.”

 

For the men, Junior Troy Blackburn finished 31st out of a field of two hundred plus runners and improved on his time from last year by two minutes and five seconds.  “His time was also a personal best for 8,000 meters by over a minute as well,” Welch said.

 

“This race was a great stepping stone for the guys.  We had runners helping each other to have good races and we’re getting faster as a team.”  The men finished 16th out of a 28 team field.

 

For the women Sophomore Marcella Bosch led the way as she finished 37th in a field of 250 plus.  “Marcella was fifty-five seconds faster than last year and did a good job of engaging with the lead group,” Welch said.

 

Sophomores Chelsee Harmon and Kendra Stone finished the race 85th and 86th.  “Chelsee was struggling a bit in the middle of the race and Kendra came up on her and said ‘let’s work together’.  That shows great teamwork,” Welch said.

 

As a team, the women finished 16th in a field of 23 teams.  “We wanted to take a chance and try to get out to a faster start,” Welch said.  “It was something that helped us from getting stuck in the back of the race.”

 

The team’s next race will be September 30 at the Willamette University Invite in Salem, Ore.

 

 

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