The cross country team has shown a strong start to its season with the men’s and women’s teams having high placements at meets.

Both finished first at the Linfield Harrier Classic on Sept. 7, a dual meet against George Fox University.

On the women’s side, they had superior performances despite missing key runners. Senior returner Hannah Greider finished in the top spot with 24 minutes, 28.01 seconds, only 11 seconds in front of the George Fox runner. Freshman Marisa Kume finished in third in her second college career performance.

Seniors Katie Skinner, Claire Hann and junior Madison Trowbridge rounded out the top-10 finished forthe Wildcats.

On the men’s side, senior Joe Gladow led the 8K, finishing first with a time of 27 minutes, 12.05 seconds Freshman Michael O’Neil trailed in behind Gladow, claiming second. Juniors Flint Martino, Calvin Howell, freshmen Chris Roth and Adrian Clifford also finished in the top-10 for the Wildcats.

“We ran well but we expect better performances out of ourselves,” junior Chad Linnerooth said.

At the Lewis & Clark University Dual Meet on Aug. 30, Gladow and senior Siena Noe were the top runners for the Wildcats.

Noe finished with the time of 19 minutes, 13.4 seconds. Gladow was in control during the majority of the race but Pioneers’ runner Jarrod Nixon came up from behind near the end forcing him to finish in second with 21 minutes, 15.3 seconds.

The men’s and women’s scores were combined at this meet, which the Wildcats lost by one point. After first race, the cross country team takes a trip to Camp Kiwanilong in Astoria, Ore. They hang out as a team and also participate in a run that is a Linfield tradition. Assistant coaches Greg Mitchell and Chris McIsaac also ran it when they were on the team.

“Camp is a great place to foster team building,” junior Ian Lundgren said. “It’s all about time. At the midpoint of the time, we have to turnaround.”

The team together runs three miles to get to the location, do an interval workout and then run the three miles back.

Team members’ interval workout goal is to make it to a jetty near shore shoreline by the halfway point of the workout and then make it back to where they started in a certain amount of time.

“It’s a hard workout that not many can complete, only a handful of male runners can complete the workout every year,” Linnerooth said. “Only one female has actually touched the jetty in time.”

The Wildcats will next compete at the Northwest Classic in Eugene, Ore. On Sept. 20 at 5:15 p.m.

Ivanna Tucker / Sports Editor

Ivanna can be reached at [email protected]

Senior Clair Hann is racing against George Fox University on Sept. 7 where she finished in the top-10. The Wildcats have been taking over the score boards as they look to future games.

Photo courtesy of Amanda Gibbons