Kurtis Williams
Review staff writer
Juniors Shawn Fisher and Marci Klimek finished third in their Northwest Conference Championship cross country races Nov. 1. The top seven runners of each team will compete at the West Region Championships in Salem on Nov. 15.
The teams traveled to Walla Walla, Wash., where on the men’s side, Fisher finished about a minute behind the first place winner, junior Francis Reynolds of the University of Puget Sound, pushing the Wildcats to fourth overall.
For Fisher, who finished 13th last year, the improvement was owed in part to a strong summer workout program and a slightly weaker NWC this year. Dominating the top of the field was Whitworth University, finishing with four runners in the top 10, narrowly beating Willamette University, which placed eight racers in the top 20.
After the all-conference Fisher, the next two finishers were upperclassmen, followed by a slew of freshman. Junior Tyler Davis placed 11th and earned all-NWC second team honors, and junior Chris McIsaac finished in 29th on the 8,000 meter course.
The freshmen finished in close proximity to one another. Scott Gage placed 33rd, Arian Anderson 36th, Eric Weinbender 39th and Alex Van Slyke rounded out the top seven in 51st, competing in a field of 100.
Fisher pointed to the inexperienced, yet potential-filled team.
“Last year we barely missed nationals,” Fisher said. “We graduated a lot of people, so this year the main focus is getting the freshmen used to racing. This year we kind of knew it was a rebuilding year because it takes [freshmen] more than one season to get used to collegiate running.”
The women collectively finished fifth out of nine teams. The ’Cats were led by Klimek’s great effort, finishing just nine seconds behind Willamette University senior Maddie Coffman and four seconds behind the Bearcats’ other senior standout Jena Winger.
With her top-seven performance, Klimek earned a spot on the all-NWC first team. The next Wildcat finisher, junior Frances Corcorran, just missed making the all-NWC second team and finished 20th.
Corcorran was out of action last year because of a substantial hip injury, which she is thankful healed enough for her to compete this year.
“Because it took a really long time overcoming my injury and being able to get back into training, just being able to race again is a big improvement from last year,” she said.
Corcorran said she knows the team, as a whole, has great potential because of the abundance of freshmen runners. Five of the top eight finishers for Linfield are freshmen.
After Klimek and Corcorran, senior Jasmine Klauder, who finished 36th, was the only other upperclassman finisher. Like the men, the next finishers were underclassmen. Freshmen Nelly Evans, 35th; Shanna Peaden, 45th; Lindsey Thomas, 49th and Amanda Cordes, 64th, round out the top seven finishers for Linfield.
Corcorran not only raced just against the field, she raced against her twin sister Michaela, a junior at Whitman College. Although she said she does not focus on her sister when the two are not together in a race, they ran next to each other for a majority of the 6,000 meters.
“We used to be competitive but now that we go to separate schools, we’re not that competitive,” she said. “This past race, we raced side by side, like the entire race. It helped, she pushed me and I think I pushed her.”
Corcorran said she wanted to finish in the top 15, but she only just missed out on her goal. For the coming regional race, Fisher and Corcorran hope to place high and make it to the D-III National Championship meet in Hanover, Ind., on Nov. 22.
The number of runners they need to beat to find one of those spots is not set in stone.
“It could be up to the top 15 to 20 people,” Corcorran said. “So I guess somewhere in that range would be my big goal.”
The top two teams will qualify for nationals, and the top seven individual finishers, aside from the top two teams, qualify for nationals. This gives all runners desire to run toward the front.
Corcorran said she is very confident that Klimek will find one of those seven national spots, and she is also confident in her ability in the coming race.
“I think that I have a chance [to make nationals]. That’s my overarching goal,” Corcorran said. “Aside from that, to have a good race, and if I feel like I put it all out there, I’ll be happy with my race no matter what.”
Fisher feels the same way.
“Obviously the goal is to make nationals,” he said.