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Mounties Open XC Season At NNU Invite
Nampa Idaho, September 9— The Eastern Oregon Cross Country teams opens their 2006 seasons at the Northwest Nazarene University Invite on Saturday. Despite only having one week of practice there were several good showings. The women’s team, lead by Marcella Bosch’s 8th place finish in 15:39, was 3rd in the team race behind Lewis-Clark State and Boise State. After Marcella they had a great pack with the next 7 runners finishing within 22 seconds of each other. The runners in that pack were; Kyle Janssen finished 19th in 16:22, Kendra Stone was 21st in 16:26, Chelsee Harmon 22nd in 16:32, Laura Clayton 23rd also in 16:32, Marika Dobos 26th 16:36, Katie Clapp 30th in 16:41, and Sara Bates 32nd in 16:44. Other Mountaineers finishing the race were Dani Murphy in 17:42 and Abby Morrison in 17:57. The men’s team finished 4th in the team race behind Boise State, Alberston College, and Lewis-Clark State. Troy Blackburn lead the young Mountie team finishing 10th in 19:39. Three new members of the team were next across the line; Josh Cobb finished 17th in 20:11, Cameron Starner was 28th in 20:47, and Justin Dean was 30th in 20:59. Kenny Thissell and John Aguirre rounded out the team finishing in 21:13 and 21:34 respectively. The Mounties will be in action again on September 16 at the University of Washington Sundodger Invite in Seattle. |
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Mounties Run Well At Sundodger Invite
Seattle Washington, September 16— The Mountaineer cross country team made the trek to Seattle for the UW Sundodger Invite on Saturday, and both teams showed progress over the first meet and last season. For the women the 6k distance is longer than a normal race, and they were still able to work together and help each other. Marcella Bosch lead the women’s team finishing 37th in 23:03, 55 seconds faster than last year on the same course. Chelsee Harmon and Kendra Stone used great teamwork in the second half of the race to finish in 85th and 86th place respectively, both with a time of 24:06. Sara Bates was next across the line in 106th place with a time of 24:20, and Katie Clapp rounded out the scoring in 132nd Place with a time of 24:44. The women’s team finished 16th out of 23 teams. On the men’s side Troy Blackburn ran a lifetime best, improving his time from last year on this course by 2:05. He finished in 25:42 to place 31st. Josh Cobb finished 106 in 26:53 with Cameron Starner close behind in 27:04, good enough for 117th place. Justin Dean finished 145th in 27:32; John Aguirre and Kenney Thissell close behind in 150th and 156th places respectively. According to coach Welch, “this race was a great stepping stone for the guys.” The men’s team also finished in 16th, out of 28 total teams. Next up the Mounties will be at the Willamette Invite on September 30. |
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Young Mounties Continue To Improve At Willamette Invite
Salem Oregon, September 30— The Mountaineer Cross Country teams took advantage of the loaded fields at the Willamette Invite as 11 of 16 athletes ran lifetime bests. The women’s field included 6 ranked NAIA teams along with several ranked NCAA DII and DIII teams; with EOU finishing 16th. They showed good team work throughout the race. Marcella Bosch lead the team again running a lifetime best of 18:54to finish 41st. The next five Eastern runners all ran lifetime bests. Katie Clapp was 84th in 19:36, Kendra Stone 93rd in 19:42, Chelsee Harmon 99th in 19:44, Abby Morrison 129th in 20:04, and Marika Dobos in 20:06. Freshman Dani Murphy also ran a lifetime best to finish 157th in 20:24. Morrison and Dobos were highlights of the meet as this was only Abby’s second cross country race and first 5k ever. Marika’s performance was a 30 second personal best, and over 40 seconds faster than last year. A small squad competed for the men’s squad, however they raced hard and 4 of 5 ran lifetime bests, and the other was a season best. Troy Blackburn finished 35th in 25:27, which dropped 15 seconds off his lifetime best from two weeks ago. The four other Mounties finished within 27 seconds of each other. Josh Cobb finished 122nd in 26:44, Cam Starner 137th in 26:58, Justin Dean was 142nd and 26:59, and Kenny Thissell was 150th in 27:11. The men’s team finished 20th in the field which included 7 ranked NAIA teams, including the #1 ranked team. Next weekend the Mountaineers will be hosting the NAIA region I preview meet on the EOU campus. |
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Women Win, Men 3rd at EOU Invite/Region 1 Preview
La Grande Oregon, October 7— It was cool, windy morning in La Grande; and the course was made up of rough ground and grass with inconsistent footing that changed several time. The Mounties were able to adapt to the changing course and turn in several good performances. The women used a hard and fast start to position themselves well early in the race. They worked together throughout with a good pack and won the team title defeating conference foes Northwest, and Albertson. The top seven runners all finished in the top 18 and within 61 seconds of each other. Marcella Bosch lead the Mountaineers finishing 8th in 20:06, with Kendra Stone close behind in 8th with a time 20:28. Marika Dobos turned in the performance of the meet finishing 10th in 20:46. The rest of the team was close behind as Katie Clapp, Abby Morrison, Laura Clayton, and Kyle Janssen finished in 14th, 15th, 16th, and 18th respectively. All within 21 seconds of Dobos. The EOU men started conservatively and moved up well to finish 3rd in the team race; just behind Albertson and Concordia, two of the top teams in the conference. Troy Blackburn finished 3rd in the race with a time of 26:34. He was the second runner from the conference and beat 4 others who were ahead of him earlier in the year. Josh Cobb finished 11th in 27:31, despite a sprained ankle earlier last week. Freshmen Cameron Starner and Justin Dean worked well together and with red-shirt Daniel Sipko finishing in 17th and 22nd in 27:49 and 27:58 respectively. Kenny Thissell rounded out the scoring finishing 27th in 28:13. The Mountaineers are off this coming weekend before heading to Lewiston, Idaho on Oct 21 for the Lewis-Clark State Invite. |
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Mounties Make Big Improvements In Lewiston
Lewiston Idaho, October 21— The Mountaineer Women’s and Men’s Cross Country teams both turned in their best performances of the season as 12 of 17athletes competing ran lifetime or season bests. Marcella Bosch lead the way for the women finishing second in 18:10; a 44 second lifetime best and the 9th best time in school history. The rest of the scorers were all within 22 seconds, finished in the top 20 and ran lifetime bests. Chelsee Harmon finished 13th in 19:02, Katie Clapp 16th in 19:12, Abby Morrison 18th in 19:18, and Kendra Stone 19th in 19: 24. Laura Clayton ran a 18 second personal best finishing 37th in 20:01. As team they finished 3rd behind 13th ranked Lewis-Clark State and Spokane CC. On the men’s side Troy Blackburn was the Mounties top runner finishing 8th in 25:55. He was a little flat this weekend, but was just off his best time. Freshman Cameron Starner ran the race of the day dropping 56 second off his best time finishing 9th in 26:02. Josh Cobb ran a 18 second season best to finish 14th in 26:26. Justin Dean and Kenney Thissell rounded out the scoring finishing 22nd and 25th in 26:56 and 27:11 respectively. The men’s team finished 4th; just 6 points behind 18th ranked Albertson and 3 points behind 10th ranked Lewis-Clark State. The Mountaineers have a weekend off to prepare for the Region 1/Cascade Conference Championships November 4 on the EOU Campus. |
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Mounties Move Into Top 25
October 25— The Mountaineer Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams both moved into the NAIA Top 25 rankings today after their break through performances in Lewiston this past weekend. The women are ranked 22nd and the men are ranked 25th. |
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Mounties Have Tough Day At Region 1/ Cascade Conference Championships
La Grande Oregon, November 4— Near perfect conditions greeted runners from 15 teams and spectators on Saturday for the NAIA Region 1/ Cascade Collegiate Conference Championships. The Mounties failed to qualify a team for the national meet for the first time since 1996, however they have had an individual qualify ever year since 1989 with Marcella Bosch earning a trip this year. For the second year in a row a many of the Mountaineer Women got off to a slow start. They ran well but were unable to make enough ground to catch the faster starting teams finishing a disappointing 6th. Marcella Bosch and Dani Murphy both ran outstanding races. Marcella was one of the Mounties that was able to avoid the slow start. She got out well and rallied late in the race to finish 10th in 18:57 and earning all region honors. In her first race in 5 weeks and with limited training due to an injury Murphy turned in a stellar performance and ran strong throughout the race. The freshman ran a 44 second personal best finishing 26th in 19:40; which is nearly three minutes faster than her best high school time. After Murphy they had a good pack, it was just too far back. Abby Morrison 33rd in 19:57, Chelsee Harmon 35th in 19:57, Katie Clapp 41st in 20:09, Marika Dobos 43rd in 20:13, and Laura Clayton 47th in 20:25 rounded out the top seven. The men’s race was loaded with 8 teams who had been ranked or received votes at some point during the season, and 7 in the final poll. Opposite of the women’s race the men’s field went out very conservative for the quality of the field with a 5:11 first mile. Troy Blackburn suffered a cramp shortly after the first mile fading to 100th in the race, and many of his teammates struggled after watching him fade during the race. Without Troy up front they finished a disappointing 9th in the team race. Josh Cobb lead the Mountaineers finishing 29th in 27:31. He was leading at the mile before slipping to nearly 50th at halfway then rallying late in the race. Justin Dean ran a strong race and was the Mounties top runner for much of the race. He finished 32nd in 27:40. Cameron Starner finished 48th in 28:02, Kenny Thissell 52nd in 28:09, and John Aguirre 63rd 28:32 rouned out the scoring. The Cascade Collegiate Conference Championships were scored based on the results of the region results with the non conference athletes removed. The women finished 2nd behind Corban College with Bosch and Murphy earning all conference honors. The men finished 6th in the conference meet.
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Bosch Runs Well At NAIA Championships
Louisville Kentucky, November 18— Marcella Bosch, the Mountaineers lone representative, ran well at the NAIA National Cross Country Championships in Louisville Kentucky. Wet and sloppy conditions added an extra challenge to the course, however it didn’t phase Marcella. She got out well and put herself in a position to run well. After fading slightly in the middle, she rallied late stages with a strong finish in 73rd in 19:19. Her finish was over 100 places higher and nearly a minute faster than last year where she placed 177th in 20:01, in better conditions. According to coach Welch, Marcella had a “very good performance.”
Aguirre, Johnston Named Academic All Americans
Louisville Kentucky— The day before the NAIA Cross Country Championships Mountaineers John Aguirre and Jessica Johnston were named Academic All Americans. Requirements for the honor are that athletes be in Junior standing with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or better with one full year at the institution. |