The Seattle University cross country team put in a solid effort at the University of Washington Sundodger Invitational in West Seattle, Wash. at Lincoln Park on Saturday.
Led by freshman Cara Talty’s (Raritan, N.J.) 25th place finish in 22:13.56 finish in the Women’s 6k Invite, the women finished eighth in the team standings. Junior Erik Barkhaus’ (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) 23rd place finish in 24:57.94 in the Men’s 8k Invite headed an eighth place finish for the team in that race, and junior Chris Auld (Eugene, Ore.) finished 62nd in the Men’s 8k Open in 26:52.02 to help the team to an 11th place finish.
“We are at a point in the season where training is accumulating in our legs. Despite that, there were some very strong performances out there today. Our focus is being ready for the conference meet and we are making strong strides towards our goal,” said head coach Trisha Steidl.
In the women’s 6k Invite run, Hannah Mittelstaedt (Maple Valley, Wash.) finished behind Talty in 36th with a time of 22:52.62. Lauren Hammerle (Seattle, Wash.) was 52nd in 23:23.94, Celeste Cassidy (Bellingham, Wash.) was close behind her in 57th in 23:30.94, Sarah Bolce (Sacramento, Calif.) finished 71st in 23.59.13, Allison Prather (Carpinteria, Calif.) was 77th in 24:17.85, Nicole Waters (Phoenix, Ariz.) 78th in 24:18.17, and Ashley Dalton (Bellingham, Wash.) was 88th in 25:32.20.
On the men’s side, fifteen runners were split between the Men’s Open and the Men’s Invite. Barkhaus led the Redhawks in the Men’s Invite, followed by Michael Van Nuland (Newcastle, Wash.) in 43rd place with a time of 25:33.13. Matthew McClement (Bellingham, Wash.) was 49th in 25:42.70, Kelton Sears (Maple Valley, Wash.) was 60th in 25:51.87, and Adam Kollgaard (Kent, Wash.) finished in 26:07.59, Hans Heitzinger (Scottsdale, Ariz.) in 26:14.45, and Jeff Baklund (Auburn, Wash.) in 26:20.58.
In the Open, Graham Kinzel-Grubbs (Portland, Ore.) placed 68th in 26:58.88, Dan Auld (Eugene, Ore.) was 87th in 27:28.93, Keenan Clinch (Sammamish, Wash.) finished in 27:39.77 for 98th place, followed by Peter VanNuland (Newcastle, Wash.) in 27:49.46, Kevin Kopetz (Derry, N.H.) in 28:02.76, Graham Miller (Spokane, Wash.) in 28:11.15, and Ryan Dennison (Pacifica, Calif.) in 28:14.21.
The teams will have next weekend off before hosting the Emerald City Open at Lower Woodland Park in Seattle on Saturday, Oct. 2nd, beginning at 10:30 in the morning.
See attached files for complete team results.