Willamette Women Place Second at AAE Invitational; Mancl Takes 3rd

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director

WINNECONNE, Wis. -- The Willamette University women's cross country team, led by top 10 finishes from Olivia Mancl (Jr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) and Taylor Ostander (Sr., Kenai, AK/Kenai Central HS), took second place during the AAE Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 17 at the Lake Breeze Golf Club. Mancl was third in the individual standings, while Ostrander placed ninth.

The meet, hosted by University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, was held on the course where the 2015 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships will be held on Nov. 21.

In the men's race, Willamette placed 13th in the team standings. Nathan Conrad (Sr., Bothell, WA/Bothell HS) earned 17th place for the Bearcats.

The meet featured two 6-kilometer women's races and two 8-kilometer men's races. One women's race and one men's race included only NCAA Division III athletes. Each of the remaining races included runners from NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and the NAIA.

Willamette's women entered the meet ranked #14 in this week's NCAA Division III Poll, while the Bearcat men's team was ranked #33 in NCAA Division III.

On Saturday, the WU women trailed only Washington University (Mo.), which took first place with a score of 136. Willamette was second at 165, with University of Chicago (Ill.) in third at 201 and Hope College (Mich) in fourth at 259. Emory University (Ga.) finished fifth at 265.

In the men's team standings, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire placed first with a score of 99. North Central College (ill.) took second at 131 and St. Lawrence University (N.Y.) was third at 174. University of Wisconsin-Stevens Points followed in fourth at 212, while Wabash College (Ohio) placed fifth at 221.

A total of 46 teams competed in the Division III women's race. There were 45 teams in the Division III men's race.

The women's individual title was won by Megan Kellogg from St. Lawrence, who completed the course in 21:11.70. Lucy Ramquist from UW-Eau Claire placed second in 21:16.75, while Mancl of Willamette was third at 21:17.23. Kathleen Thorn from University of Wisconson-Stout took fourth in 21:23.07, and Lauren Strohbehn from Calvin College (Mich.) finished fifth at 21:23.42.

Mancl set a personal record, as she lowered her previous top time by 30.82 seconds. She also moved from ninth place into third place on Willamette's all-time list for the 6-kilometer distance.

All six of Willamette's runners in the women's race were among the first 80 athletes to reach the finish line out of 414 entries.

Mancl led the way, with Ostrander taking ninth in 21:33.95 and Hannah Swanson (So., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) placing 35th in 22:16.92. Juliet Farnan (Jr., Lafayette, CA/Campolindo HS) was 47th with a time of 22:29.95, while Alyssa Reese (So., Louisville, CO/Monarch HS) took 71st in 22:45.44. Ami Boucher (Jr., Concord, CA/Northgate HS) placed 78th at 22:50.82. Ostrander moved from seventh into sixth on WU's all-time list.

Winning the men's championship was Josh Thorson of UW-Eau Claire with a time of 24:17.1. Ian LaMere from University of Wisconsin-Platteville was second at 24:24.8. Darin lau of UW-Eau Claire placed third at 24:38.9 and Ryan Mugan, also from UW-Eau Claire, crossed the finish line fourth in 24:39.9. Ryan Becker of Washington University (Mo.) took fifth in 24:41.1.

Conrad provided leadership for Willamette by placing 17th in 25:01.5, just 0.1 out of 16th place and 1.5 seconds out of 13th. He set a personal record, lowering his top mark from 25:05.1 at the Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational earlier this season.

Yonny Castillo (Sr., Parkdale, OR/Hood River Valley HS) registered 49th place for the Bearcats in 25:28.1. Less than two seconds later, Patrick Loftus (So., Healdsburg, CA/Sonoma Academy) placed 51st in 25:29.9.

Jacob Shafi (Sr., Pleasanton, CA/Amador Valley HS) of WU took 93rd place at 25:50.7, while Keith Carlson (Fr., Bainbridge Island, WA//Bainbridge HS) was 143rd (135th among scorers) at 26:18.0. Also for Willamette, Hunter Mathies (Sr., Moran, WY/Jackson Hole HS) placed 173rd at 26:29.2. A total of 419 runners were entered in the men's race.

Willamette will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 31 at the Northwest Conference Championships in Parkland, Washington.