‘Cats Race Well at Wes Cook Invitational
October 11, 2014

SALEM, Ore. – On a day marked by all of the tell-tale signs of a perfect fall cross country day – cool temperatures, freshly mowed grass and orange and red hues in the trees – the Wildcats headed to Willamette Mission Park to do battle with a small but talented field at the Wes Cook Invitational. The men raced first, battling to a third-place finish while the women placed second as a team over the 5k course.

The Wildcat men charge from the line at the Wes Cook Invitational.

“We’ve been working with a lot of intensity at practice over the last few weeks and racing pretty frequently,” stated head coach Travis Olson. “The results from Saturday are actually very promising. We’ll be backing off soon as we get ready for the championships and the athletes will have fresh legs – to run well on tired legs like they did bodes well for the future.”

Flint Martino (left) and Tyler Griffin battle to the finish.

The men were led by the trio of Mike O’Neil (26:17), Adrian Clifford (26:45) and Alex Mangan (26:50) who all dipped under 27 minutes over the uneven terrain of the park. “I felt absolutely average,” stated Mangan. “We’re working pretty hard so I knew I’d be a bit tired, but I was hoping for more. Not too bad though, I guess.”

The top three were followed across the line by Jeff Lee (27:07) and Chad Linnerooth (27:31) who rounded out the top five scorers on the day. Linnerooth was followed closely to the finish by Flint Martino (27:38) and Tyler Griffin (27:39).

The Lady 'Cats pack up and run together early in the race.

On the women’s side, the Lady ‘Cats were led across the line by Kaelia Neal (19:32), who finished as the top runner for the first time this season. Neal was followed less than a second later by Emma Knudson (19:32), and both ended up in the top ten for the day. Jaime Rodden finished about 15 seconds later in 19:46 and was followed closely into the finish chute by the other scoring members of the team: Audrey Lichten (20:01) and Rebeca DeLeon (20:12). Calli Dowdy (20:17) and Vera Heidmann (20:21) rounded out the top 7 on the day.

Jaime Rodden, Kaelia Neal and Emma Knudson work together to move up mid-race.