Wildcat XC Season Heats Up at Ash Creek Invite
September 12, 2014

MONMOUTH, Ore. - On a hot, dry evening, the Wildcats headed down Highway 99 to Monmouth to do battle at the Western Oregon University Ash Creek Invitational. Schools representing NCAA Division II and NAIA, as well as community college institutions brought teams. Linfield was the only Division III team in attendance.

Linfield's women placed three runners within the top 30 finishers and the ‘Cats placed sixth. On the men's side, Linfield had five runners among the first 40 finishers which was good enough to land in fifth place in the final standings.

The women's team gets ready to roll prior to the start of the Ash Creek Invite.

“It was fun to mix it up with some different teams that we don’t see very often,” stated Head Coach Travis Olson. “The heat definitely impacted our performances, but the effort was there and at this point in the season that’s what we want to see.”

Freshman carried the day for the Linfield women. Jaime Rodden was Linfield's top finisher over the unconventional 4,200-meter layout, placing 23rd in 15 minutes, 56 seconds. She was followed closely by another frosh, Emma Knudson, who claimed 26th in 16:07. Rebeca DeLeon was 31st at 16:13 and Kaelia Neal grabbed 35th in 16:15. Other leading finishers included Ana Ramirez, 38th in 16:22, Vera Heidmann, 40th in 16:24, Calli Dowdy, 42nd in 16:33, and Katie Higinbotham, 50th in 16:56. 

Senior Captain Chad Linnerooth pushes the pace early.

Young runners set the pace for the Linfield men. Michael O'Neil squeezed inside the top 20 men's finishers. The sophomore covered the 5,900-meter course in 18:46. Freshman Jeff Lee forged a 19:13 clocking to nab 25th place and senior was 31st in 19:26. A trio of sophomores followed in succession with Adrian Clifford taking 38th in 19:41Chris Roth seizing 39th in 19:43, and Tyler Griffin placing 40th in 19:43. Flint Martino was 44th in 19:56, Alex Mangan was 46th in 20:00, Lucas Hester earned 48th in 20:04, and Chris Poole rounded out the top 50 competitors at 20:05.