Wildcats Dominate at Home Meet

August 30, 2014

McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Placing all five scoring runners among the top 11 finishers on each side, the Wildcats swept both races of the season-opening Linfield Harrier Classic at Joe Dancer Park Saturday morning.

Senior Calli Dowdy paced the Wildcat women, finishing as the squad's No. 1 runner for the first time in her career as the fifth overall runner to cross the tape. She completed the six-kilometer course 25 minutes, 23.14 seconds. “This is by far the best race I’ve run,” said Dowdy. “I feel a lot more in shape. It’s nice having your teammates right there."

Wildcat teammates Calli Dowdy (438) and Emma Knudson (441) battle to the line.

Picking up right where he left off a season ago, Michael O'Neil led the Linfield men with an individual fourth-place finish. As the first competitor from the Northwest Conference to complete the eight-kilometer course, the sophomore clocked in at 27 minutes, 6.06 seconds. “We’re a close team this year, time-wise and team-wise,” stated O’Neil. “We definitely want to take seven to Regionals.”

Michael O'Neil (far left) leads the Wildcats to victory at the Harrier Classic.

Linfield's women won the team's race by a considerable margin, totaling 27 points to George Fox's 51, Pacific's 69 and Warner Pacific's 100 points. The Wildcat men scored 23 points, outdistancing fellow NWC squads George Fox (55) and Pacific (56). Both squads had freshmen finish in the top five scoring positions.

Rookie Emma Knudson finished about a second after Dowdy for sixth place in 25:24.28 while second-year runner Sarah Rasumussen-Rehkopf took seventh in 25:33.97. “I wanted to stick with Calli and Sarah,” said Knudson. “I tried really hard to kick at the end but my legs were shot.” Freshmen Kaelia Neal and Ana Ramirez rounded out ninth and 10th place, clocking in at 25:42.25 and 25:48.80, respectively.

On the men's side, Jeff Lee made an impressive Wildcat debut by finishing in eighth place, leading a quartet of Linfield runners that finished in immediate succession. Lee completed the four-lap course in 28 minutes, 8.01 seconds. Tyler Griffin was ninth in 28:09.96, Adrian Clifford took 10th in 28:17.30 and Chris Roth finished 11th in 28:20.26.

The Lady Wildcats after claiming victory at the Linfield Harrier Classic.