Drake Second, Kelly Seventh To Lead Bulldog Cross Country
9/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
MISSOULA, Mont. - For the second straight week Lindsey Drake finished second for the women and Tate Kelly showed he is in mid-season form with a seventh place finish for the men as Gonzaga University's cross country teams had impressive showings at the Montana Invitational in a rare Friday morning meet.
Drake, second last week at the Erik Anderson Memorial Invitational to help the Bulldog women to second place, led six Gonzaga women in the top 20 Friday as the Bulldogs captured third. Kelly, who competed for the first time this year last weekend, led a pack of seven Bulldogs in the top 15 as the Zags finished second.
Montana State University won both races on their rival's course, the Bobcats with 38 points in the men's race to edge Gonzaga with 49. MSU had 36 points in the women's race with four runners in the top eight to edge the host Grizzlies with 47 and Gonzaga with 56.
Drake lost to MSU's Heather Haug by a mere three seconds, Haug claiming her first collegiate victory in 17:46 while Drake came across in 17:49 for the 5K course. Following Drake across the line for the Bulldogs were Maggie Jones in 18:53 for 13th place overall, Catherine Theobald in 14th in 18:54, Krista Beyer in 16th in 18:59 and Elizabeth Ryan in 19th in 19:18 to round out the Gonzaga scorers. Emily Albrecht was 20th in 19:31.
"It was a good day and it was almost a phenomenal day," head coach Pat Tyson said. "Lindsey led the race until the last 350 meters and then it was a sprint to the finish line. She did a great job early on."
On the men's side, Lynn Reynolds of Montana won his first career race in 24:44 over the 8K layout. Kelly, who missed the first two weeks with a quad strain, was seventh overall in 25:39 to pace the Zags. A pack of Bulldogs finished 10-12 and 14-16. Brent Felnagle returned finished 10th in 25:54, Willie Milam was 11th in 25:58 and Andrew Walker, competing for the first time this year after coming off an injury, was 12th in 25:59. Patrick Richie was 14th in 26:05, Robert Walgren 15th in 26:06 and Nick Roche 16th in 26:07.
"It was nice we were in the battle team wise," Tyson said of the effort the men and women turned in.
Tyson was also pleased with some of the efforts on the men's side.
"Tate was solid and Walker stepped it up in his first race off injury and was our number four man. Richie came back after a flat race last week and got back in the hunt. Similarly on the women's side we hope Emily Thomas is healthy. Jones was our second best runner today. Then you look at all those freshmen," Tyson said.
Thomas was held out for the second straight week for health reasons. An update on her status is expected early next week.
The freshmen Tyson referred to were the likes of Jones, Ryan and Erin Bergmann (24th overall Friday) on the women's side, and runners like Roche and Foote on the men's side.
Tyson said Friday's effort made picking the team that will represent the Zags at the West Coast Conference Championship Oct. 29 "muddier than ever."
The final tune-up for the Bulldogs prior to the WCC Championship will be in two weeks when Gonzaga competes in the Inland Invitational Oct. 14 hosted by the Community Colleges of Spokane.
"That meet will go a long way to ice some of those spots," Tyson said as he gets
