The Redhawk cross country team looks to be in great shape headed into the Great West Conference Championships as the men seriously challenged Southern Oregon and finished second and the women placed fourth at the Beaver Classic in Corvallis, Ore. on Saturday.
“We for sure had second place wrapped up without question. It was just a matter of how close we could get to Southern Oregon,” said head coach Trisha Steidl. “They were full of fire, very sharp.”
Junior Erik Barkhaus (Whitefish Bay, Wisc.) came in second in the men’s 8k with a time of 24:25, just behind Southern Oregon’s David Laney. Kelton Sears (Maple Valley, Wash.) came in sixth with a time of 24:53. Matthew McClement (Bellingham, Wash.) and Michael Van Nuland (Newcastle, Wash.) placed 11th and 12th with a time of 25:21, and Hans Heitzinger (Scottsdale, Ariz.) was right behind them in 13th with a time of 25:27. Adam Kollgaard (Kent, Wash.) finished 18th in 25:53. Jeff Baklund (Auburn, Wash.) was the seventh Seattle U runner, coming in with a time of 25:57.
Chris Auld (26:22), Graham Kinzel-Grubbs (26:27), and Nick Cannata-Bowman (27:25) also competed, having run hard and pushing the finishers ahead of them.
On the women's side, the Redhawks had their best race as a team. Cara Talty (Raritan, N.J.) finished 3rd with a time of 21.54. Celeste Cassidy (Bellingham, Wash.) placed 19th in 22:45, Lauren Hammerle (Seattle, Wash.) tied for 20th with a time of 22:45.
Hannah Mittelstaedt (Maple Valley, Wash.) finished 24th in 23:02, followed by Sarah Bolce (23:42), Allison Prather (24:09), Ashley Dalton (25.06), and Mary Thompson (25.31).
“Our intention was to put out a hard effort and figure out what we needed for conference,” said Steidl. “We definitely got the confidence booster we needed and got to where we wanted to be in terms of confidence and fitness. It was just a really good day out there with good competition.”
The top seven finishers on both sides qualified for the Great West Conference Championships, which will be held in Edinburg, Texas next Saturday, Oct. 30.