Saturday, the Seattle University men’s and women’s cross country teams battled it out at the annual Emerald City Open, their one home meet of the season.
Grimaces couldn’t hide on the faces dripping sweat as runners dug their way up and down the rocky hills. At the finish line, competitors immediately bent over at the hips, eyes facing the ground, hands clinging to their thighs. This is the Lower Woodland Park course.
“It’s a tougher course,” head coach Trisha Steidl said. “It’s hilly. It’s actually cross country. We’re not on a golf course – it’s not flat – it’s wonderful.”
Going into the race, the team had a plan for their home course. It paid off.
The women finished the 6K in third place out of eight teams after a tiebreak for second. The men finished the 8K in first place out of nine teams.
“I think being smart with racing showed today. I don’t necessarily think it’s a prowess on hills, everybody here is strong,” Steidl said. “Starting out more conservatively and getting stronger as you go is the way to play this game.”
For the fourth time this season, junior Lila Rice was the first Redhawk to cross the finish line with a time of 22:12.3, shaving about 34 seconds off her time on the course from last year. She finished in second place in a field of 72 women.
Steidl thought Rice looked confident in her race.
“Lila looked strong from the start,” Steidl said. “I was really impressed with her putting herself up there from the get-go. She faded just a little bit, but she still maintained contact with the first-place girl and did a really good job of just staying focused and honing in on her back. It was really good to see her just put herself out there and not be afraid.”
In the men’s race, senior Gus Arroyo was the first from Seattle University to cross the finish with a time of 26:04, beating his time on the course last year by about 10 seconds. He ultimately finished in fourth place in a field of 116.
“Gus went out smart,” Steidl said. “He looked very in-control the whole time.”
Steidl thought Arroyo could run faster, but she noted that after dealing with an ankle injury, the number one goal was to stay healthy, especially given the rocky course.
“He ran really strong,” Steidl said. “Not that long ago (the time he ran) used to be right around the course record, and he did that looking really smooth.”
Steidl was pleased with the guys coming through on what had been talked about leading up to the meet. She wanted to see them start conservatively and move up well throughout the race, something she said she thinks they did really well.
On the women’s side, Steidl thought they did a good job of staying strong despite not going out as conservatively as the men in order to move up. Rather, she said they did a good job of maintaining their spots.
She went on to clarify that although this approach was different from the men, they did a really good job with it.
Steidl uses the Emerald City Open as a way to determine the top runners who will auto-qualify for the Western Athletic Conference Championships in Orem, Utah. With only two weeks to go until then, they’re starting to settle in on who will be representing Seattle University.
Before that, though, the Redhawks travel to Corvallis, Ore. next week to compete in the Beaver Classic, leaving Seattle for the first time this season.
SEATTLE UNIVERSITY TOP FINISHERS:
Women: Lila Rice finished second with a time 22:12.3. Olivia Stein (22:54.3) finished ninth, Elena Smith (22:57.1) finished 11th, Moira O’Connor Lenth (23:09.9) finished 15th, Taylor de Laveaga (23:36.2) finished 17th. For a full list of finishers, see PDF.
Men: Gus Arroyo finished fourth with a time of 26:04, Nathan McLaughlin (26:17.7) finished sixth, Matt Seidel (26:20.7) finished seventh, Tyler Flannery (26:21.2) finished eighth, Baxter Arguinchona (26:24.0) finished ninth, Chay Weaver (26:26.9) finished 11th, Ben Monk (26:35.7) finished 12th. For a full list of finishers, see PDF.