McMINNVILLE, Ore. – The 2024 Bushnell Cross Country season kicked off this Saturday at the Linfield Harrier Classic, taking place at The Nines Golf Course.
The women ran a 4000-meter course and took 9th place. The Beacons were just 37 points behind Corban University as the only two Cascade Collegiate Conference schools competing. Division I power University of Portland won the race.
The men ran a 6000-meter course and took 11th place. The Corban men's team finished second overall behind Portland.
Head Coach
Kyle Will said, "I was really impressed with the women today. It was a really good first effort, and we have our work cut out for us. It is a long season and we are excited to see where we can go from here.
Leading the way for the women was senior
Kaitlin Cook, taking 42nd place with a time of 15:48.80, nearly two minutes faster than her finish at the same meet last season.
Marae Paggio took 66th (16:58.86) while freshman
Cadence Smith made her debut in 72nd (17:04.87).
Mariah Anderson (17:28.31) and
Jordan Lauinger (17:53.26) followed in 78th and 85th respectively to round out the scoring for the Beacons. "Kaitlin ran two minutes faster than this 4K last year and I think this course was a little bit harder," said Coach Will. "Jordan blew me away today. She crushed it in her first collegiate race."
Also running for Bushnell were
Anna Stone (92nd, 18:30.42) and
Sidney Lane (94th, 18:57.36).
On the men's side it was a freshman,
Ja White, leading the way as he overcame some health concerns to take 78th place (21:05.06). Will said, "Ja had a really strong performance today. He was feeling sick this morning with a sore throat and a cold so I didn't know what to expect but he just killed it."
Logan Gant (21:49.93) wasn't too far behind in 104th place while
CJ Long took 113th (22:23.02).
Miguel Ramirez (22:58.81) and
Wyatt Pepiot (23:05.02) rounded out the scoring while
Grant Kaminer (23:05.58) and
Sayer Pescosolido (23:44.55) also completed.
The Beacons will return to action in two weeks, heading to Monmouth, Oregon for Western Oregon University's Ash Creek Collegiate.
