Lewis & Clark Invitational Recap

The Lewis & Clark Cross-Country alums returned in force to their home course at McIver yesterday to toe the line in the biggest meet the park has ever seen. The 8k field comprised 26 teams fielding 301 athletes, the 6k field 23 teams fielding 246 athletes. Teams from all over the country were represented, as were several NCAA Division I teams including the University of Oregon, University of Portland, and Oregon State University.

The 8k started first. The pack went out fast but the alums stayed in the mix, coming through the first lap in 17th. Once the pace settled down the alums put their racing experience to good use, methodically picking people off. In the second lap they passed Clark and Corban to advance to 15th place, and in the final lap they moved past George Fox to finish in 14th, shaving 42 points off their lap 1 score. Blake Slattengren led the alums across the finish line, running a PR of 25:24 for 52nd place. Sean Richardson followed him across the line in 25:42.9. Brendy Hale, Zach Yeager, Asa Weiss, George Shoemaker, and Richie Lenne rounded out the scoring 7. The alum team placed right behind the undergrad team in 13th. Archrival Linfield Alumni, captained by Chris McIsaac, scored incomplete.

After the 8k. Left to right: Karl Dickman, George Shoemaker, Brendy Hale, Sean Richardson, Zach Yeager, Blake Slattengren, Richie Lenne, Asa Weiss. Photo by John Hale.

The 6k was raced 45 minutes later, led across the finish line by Amanda Phillips. Just a six days after a spectacular Chicago Marathon, Amanda clinched a 2nd place finish in a time of 20:27.7—more than 40 seconds faster than her own Lewis & Clark 6k school record. She was followed by Kara Batdorff at 23:21.0 and Etta Moen at 23:28.6, both setting new 6k personal records. Heather Spurling came in soon after, just five days after her debut Boston Marathon. Katie Keith was the fifth and final finisher, picking off several competitors with a strong finishing kick. Racing just five athletes in Cross-Country leaves no room for error because there's no one to step up if one of the top five has an off day, but everyone turned in a strong performance. The alums placed 10th out of 23 teams, right ahead of the undergrad team in 11th.

After the 6k. Top row: Logan Mercer, Carla McHattie, Blake Slattengren, Sean Richardson, Kory Andersen, Karl Dickman, Emily Thomas, Brendy Hale, Jarrod Nixon, Reed Bunnell.
Bottom row: Geroge Shoemaker, Katie Keith, Amanda Phillips, Kara Batdorff, Heather Spurling, Etta Moen.
Photo by Laura Thomas.

A big thank you to everyone who came out to race and to cheer, and to Coach Barreau and his staff for putting on the meet.

8k finishers

52 Blake Slattengren 25:24.0
74 Sean Richardson 25:42.9
161 Brendy Hale 27:20.5
208 Zach Yeager 28:16.8
216 Asa Weiss 28:30.8
226 George Shoemaker 28:56.9
237 Richie Lenne 29:17.2
280 Leif Bullock 30:49.2
300 Karl Dickman 35:10.5

6k finishers

2 Amanda Phillips 20:27.7
61 Kara Batdorff 23:21.0
74 Etta Moen 23:28.6
87 Heather Spurling 23:53.0
108 Katie Keith 24:22.3

Comments