The veterans continued to lead the Seattle University women’s cross country team, while the men’s squad also saw a new runner emerge as top Redhawk finisher during the Bill Dellinger Invitational, hosted by the University of Oregon Saturday morning at the Springfield Country Club.
Lauren Hammerle (Seattle, Wash.) crossed the finish line first among the Redhawk women in the five-kilometer race, posting a personal-best time of 17:59 to finish in 40th place overall. Hannah Mittelstaedt (Maple Valley, Wash.), finishing behind another Redhawk runner for the first time since her freshman season, earned a mark of 18:11 to finish in 48th place.
Sophie Curatilo (Honolulu, Hawaii) finished in 56th place with a time of 18:26, just ahead of Madison Davis (Camano Island, Wash.) in 60th place with a mark of 18:28. Taylor de Laveaga (Gilbert, Ariz.) posted a time of 18:41 to cross the finish line in 66th place, followed closely by Lila Rice (Redmond, Wash.) in 68th place in 18:43.
Jennifer Stolle (Seattle, Wash.) posted a 74th-place finish with a time of 18:51, just ahead of Elena Smith (Seattle, Wash.) in 77th place with a mark of 18:56. Rebecca Lassere (Boise, Idaho) crossed the finish line in 93rd place with a time of 19:44.
“Even though most of the teams were overall a little slower than last year, our women were significantly faster,” Seattle U head coach Trisha Steidl said. “Their experience and depth showed today, and they will continue to build upon what they accomplished today. They are poised to have great things happen at the end of the season.”
As a team, Seattle University finished in eighth place with 223 points. Washington cruised to the team victory by placing five runners in the top 15. Alexa Efraimson, running unattached, won the individual race with a time of 16:35, just ahead of Emma Bates of Boise State, who was credited with the same time in finishing second.
Gus Arroyo (Portland, Ore.) earned his first accomplishment as the top finisher among the Redhawk men, completing the eight-kilometer course in 26:08 to finish in 72nd place. Classmate Nathan McLaughlin (Puyallup, Wash.) was right behind Arroyo in 73rd place with a time of 26:11, followed by Graham Kinzel-Grubbs (Portland, Ore.) in 77th place at 26:18 and Caleb Herrera (Tucson, Ariz.) in 79th place with a mark of 26:23.
Miles Hille (Woodinville, Wash.) crossed the finish line in 94th place with a time of 26:50, followed by Tyler Flannery (Auburn, Wash.) in 100th place in 26:57 and Jeff Baklund (Auburn, Wash.) in 102nd place in 27:03.
“The men looked very strong. We’re missing turnover right now, but that is where we expect to be at this time of the season. We’ll start focusing on that phase of training starting in the next week or so. I saw good grit from the guys today, and if we continue to build off of where we are right now, we’re going to be ready to go when we need and want to be ready,” said Steidl.
The Seattle University men finished in 10th place as a team with 274 points. Oregon held off Boise State to win the team title, and Aaron Nelson of Washington was the individual winner, crossing the finish line with a time of 23:55.
“On both the men’s and women’s side, we are a little banged up in the health department right now, and that’s magnified when you’re racing and trying to put out your best,” added Steidl. “That’s something that’s temporary, so we’re not worried about that. The fitness is there and we will be ready when it’s go time.”
The Seattle University cross country team will have two weeks to prepare for its lone regular season home meet, the Emerald City Open, taking place Saturday, Oct. 19, at Lower Woodland Park, with the women’s six-kilometer race at 10:30 a.m. and the men’s eight-kilometer event at 11:15 a.m. It has been designated a Pink Meet, as the Redhawks will use the meet in part to raise awareness and educate the community about breast cancer research.