Bearcats Win Men's Title, Women Take Second, at Mike Hodges Invitational

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

OREGON CITY, ORE. -- The Willamette University men's cross country team took first place and the Bearcat women's team finished in second place at the Mike Hodges Invitational, hosted by Clackamas Community College on Friday, Oct. 14. Willamette's men recorded a solid winning score of 24, while the WU women's squad earned a score of 62 and trailed only Oregon State University in the team standings.

Kevin Aubol (Jr., Ellensburg, WA/Ellensburg HS) of Willamette achieved second place in the men's 4-mile race with a time of 20:32.34. He finished 5.24 seconds behind the winner, Cameron Quackenbush from the University of Washington, who claimed first place at 20:27.10.

In the women's race, Michaela Freeby (Fr., Milwaukie, OR/Rex Putnam HS) from Willamette placed sixth. Her time for the 5-kilometer course was 18:22.84. The women's title went to Erin Johnson from the University of Washington, as she registered a time of 17:48.33.

Quackenbush and Aubol were several seconds in front of the next three runners, who were competing unattached. Third place went to Kyle Rae with a time of 20:39.60. Fourth place was earned by Nick Schippers at 20;41.35 and fifth place was achieved by Chris Wozniak at 20:43.15.

Brad Prettyman from Clackamas CC was sixth in 20:43.73. Ben Donovan (Sr., Minneapolis, MN/South HS) of Willamette finished seventh with a time of 20:45.34.

Willamette claimed a third runner in the top 10 when Parker Bennett (So., Sister, OR/Sisters HS) crossed the finish line 10th in 21:01.61. Kit Kingstad (So., Beaverton, OR/Beaverton HS) of WU placed 13th at 21:08.36 and Daniel Swanson (Fr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) of WU took 16th in 21:17.02.

Ben Beeler (Fr., San Francisco, CA/Archbishop Riordan HS) placed 26th overall for the Bearcats. His time was 21:40.70. The men's race included 87 runners.

Willamette (24 points) was followed in the men's team standings by Clackamas CC in second place with a score of 62. Seattle University was third with 81 points, while Highline Community College was fourth at 104.

Clark College (Wash.) placed fifth at 129, with Mount Hood Community College in sixth at 151 and Everett Community College in seventh at 165. McMurry College (Texas) took eight place with a score of 190, while Southwest Oregon Community College was ninth at 261.

Johnson won the women's race by about 18 seconds. Erin Jones of Oregon State finished second at 18:06.25. Kelsey Owens, running unattached, placed third at 18:07.52. Olivia Poblacion from Oregon State was fourth in 18:12.37 and Kelsi Schaer from OSU was fifth in 18:14.23. The women's race featured 84 competitors.

Oregon State achieved the women's team title with a score of 19. Willamette was second at 62, while Everett CC took third place at 79, Clark College was fourth at 114 and Clackamas CC was fifth at 118. McMurry finished sixth at 182, Mount Hood CC was seventh at 196, Seattle University was eighth at 202 and Highline CC was ninth at 250.

Freeby was one of three WU women among the top 15 runners in the women's race. Kaitlin Greene (Sr., Pullman, WA/Pullman HS) placed 13th while crossing the finish line in 18:43.60. Theresa Edwards (Jr., Lake Tapps, WA/Bonney Lake HS) was 15th with a time of 18:53.82.

Amanda Tamanaha (Jr., Honolulu, HI/Saint Andrews Priory School) from Willamette took 23rd in 19:09.40. Sarah McSweeney (Sr., Petaluma, CA/Casa Grande HS) of WU completed the course in 19:15.91 and claimed 26th place.

The Bearcats will run again on Saturday, Oct. 29 at the Northwest Conference Championships at Willamette Mission State Park. The meet will be hosted by Linfield College and will get underway at 10 a.m. (PDT).