With better weather on Oct. 5 in Salem, Ore., the cross country team finished in fourth place among the Northwest Conference competitors in addition to their tenth place overall win totaling 269 and 285 points, respectively, on the men’s and women’s sides of the Cardinal race.
Runners such as seniors Joe Gladow and Sienna Noe helped paced the runners at the Willamette Charles Bowles Invitational at Bush’s Pasture Park.
Gladow finished with a time of 25 minutes, 48.91 seconds in his 8000 meter run finishing only 56 seconds behind race winner junior Calvin Howell. Howell not only broke the top 50 spots by finishing in 40th place, but also with a time of 26 minutes and 13.30 seconds.
On the women’s side, Noe finished as the Wildcats’ No. 1 runner for the first time this year finishing her 5,000 meter race with a time of 18 minutes, 52.12 seconds. Fellow senior Katie Skinner came in 13 places back with a time of 19 minutes and 11.41 seconds.
Some of the newer Linfield runners also performed well. Sophomore Alex Mangan and freshman Michael O’Niel finished 64th and 68th respectively with Mangan clocking in at 26 minutes and 40.20 seconds while O’Neil finished in at 26 minutes and 48.64 seconds. Freshmen Marissa Kume also contributed to the team by finishing with a time of 19 minutes and 31.04 seconds taking the 70th place spot while fellow freshmen Adrian Clifford rounded out the scoring on the Linfield men’s side with a 90th place showing in 27 minutes, 20.40 seconds.
Although the ’Cats didn’t place as high as they wanted to, the team is still positive that their chances to perform well for the rest of the season are still strong.
“We had some good performances from several individuals on both the men’s and women’s sides but overall we were hoping for a better team performance,“senior Joe Gladow said. “That said, we’re still a month out from our championship races, so I think we’re in a good position to compete for a Conference title on both sides.”
The team’s next competition will be held this coming Saturday, Oct. 12 at the George Fox University Invitational, held at Willamette Mission State Park in Salem, Ore.
Camille Weber/ Sports columnist
