Gonzaga Women Win Title At Inland Northwest Classic
10/13/2012 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
LEWISTON, Idaho - Gonzaga University's women's cross country team won the Inland Empire Classic while the Bulldog men turned in a strong showing in finishing second behind Washington State University.
The Bulldog women had four runners in the top 10 with Emily Thomas third in 17:47, Lauren Bergam fifth (18:07), Amelia Evans sixth (18:08) and Maggie Jones eighth (18:16) over the brand new 5K layout just designed in the last few weeks by Lewis-Clark State College head coach Mike Collins . The Zags scored 37 points to out-distance second-place WSU with 71.
The Gonzaga men had three runners in the top 12 as Tate Kelly once again led the way in 24:47 for third place over the 8K layout. Colin O'Neil was 11th in 25:20 and Robert Walgren 12th in 25:24. The Bulldogs had 52 points while the Cougars won the meet with 24.
The meet was the final tune-up for the West Coast Conference Championship in two weeks, and both head coach Pat Tyson and assistant coach Petty Ley have the nine-person men's and women's rosters finalized.
Kelly, O'Neil, Willie Milam, Chris Boyle, Robert Walgren, Nick Roche, Alex Foote, Patrick Richie and Brent Felnagle will represent the men at the WCC Championship. Freshman Conor McCandless, who suffered from dehydration at the Dellinger Invitational two weeks ago, did not race Saturday and will not compete in the WCC Championship, Foote replace him in the line-up. Felnagle was also held out of Saturday's meet because of respiratory issues, according to Tyson.
"He'll be ready," Tyson said of Felnagle's availability for the WCC's.
The aforementioned top four finishers for the Bulldog women Saturday will be joined by Catherine Theobald, Lara Tuthill, Meghan Blanchet, Krista Beyer and Lindsey Drake as the nine runners for the WCC Championship.
Drake did not run Saturday, Ley opting to hold her out as she just returned to action this fall after sitting out the spring track season with a femur injury.
Both Tyson and Ley said Saturday was a good final tune-up for the WCC Championship.
"Not a bad performance by men and women," Tyson said. "The course was definitely one where you had no time to recover. It was deceptively hard. Not super hilly, but running on a corn field that has been groomed and flattened and is not very quick. It was just a race where you never got a breather and always had to be in the zone," Tyson said.
Kelly and O'Neil were in the lead pack most of the way, according to Tyson, and O'Neil was in survival mode down the home stretch and almost got caught by Walgren.
Tyson said Richie lost a shoe early in the race and "ran 90 percent of the race with one shoe. Obviously, he couldn't really get into the game Saturday."
"I felt good about it right now," Ley said of the women's performance Saturday. "We're still coming off that mid-term thing, but we're looking solid."
Ley said she liked the pack the Bulldogs developed Saturday.
"You take one through eight today and then put Lindsey in there someplace and we were at about 1:03 for the pack," Ley said. "The have the potential of being at about a minute at WCC's feels good."
Ley said freshman Taylor Cherry and Becca Barad will be the top two alternates for the WCC Championship.
"Taylor ran well today. You could tell by the look on her face she had a lot of fun doing it. I'm pleased with her first season. She will pick up the slack next year when we have to replace some good seniors. She has a long way to go in terms of strength, but I'm excited about her future," Ley said.
Ley also singled out Jordan McCann for her performance Saturday.
"Jordan McCann ran awesome and had a great day. It's not her natural territory to be a cross country kid," Ley explained. "She's a 400 and 800 runner in high school, so I'm excited for her future, too."
The WCC Championship will be Oct. 27 at Fernhill Park in Portland, Ore. The Zags participated in the WCC Preview on that course earlier this season.
