By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
NORTHFIELD, Minn. -- Michael Montague (Sr., San Diego, CA/Canyon Crest Academy) of Willamette University achieved 14th place out of 220 runners in the men's 8-kilometer race at the Carleton Invitational (Running of the Cows) on Saturday, Sept. 21. Montague completed the course in 26:40.6. The top finisher for the Willamette women's team was Sam Smith (Fy., Seattle, WA/Ballard HS), who took 47th place out of 187 runners in the women's 6-kilometer race with a time of 24:52.3.
Willamette placed eighth in the women's team standings with a score of 234, just 10 points behind Macalester College (Minn.) in seventh at 224, and only 22 points behind Bethel University (Minn.) in sixth place at 212. The Bearcats finished 13th in the men's team standings.
The second runner to reach the finish line for Willamette in the men's race was Gabriel Regimbal (Fy., Bellingham, WA/Squalicum HS) in 68th place at 28:01.0. Ronan Davies (Fy., Juneau, AK/Juneau-Douglas HS) was 112th at 28:50.9.
Matthew Wilkinson of Carleton College (Minn.) won the men's individual title with a time of 25:24.7. Tyler Nault from University of Wisconsin-La Crosse was second at 25:33.1, and Ezekiel Lelinga from Bethel placed third at 26:04.1.
UW-LaCrosse easily latched onto the men's team championship with all five scorers in the top 10 for a team score of 30 (2-4-6-8-10). Carleton was second with a score of 110. Minnesota State University was third at 120, with Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) in fourth at 141, and St. John's University (Minn.) in fifth at 164.
Smith was one of four runners on the WU women's team who placed in the top 60. She was joined by April Holland (Fy., Warrensburg, MO/Warrensburg HS) in 54th place, Risa Shutz (Jr., Redmond, WA/Redmond HS) in 57th and Audrey Piacsek (So., Ellensburg, WA/Ellensburg HS) in 60th. Holland was time at 25:04.5, while Shutz earned a time of 25:10.8 and Piacsek attained a time of 25:14.0.
The individual women's championship went to Clara Mayfield from Carleton, who registered a time of 22:20.9. Amanda Mosborg, also running for Carleton, took second in 22:48.7. Allyssa Reeves from Minnesota State was third in 23:12.2.
Carleton placed four runners in the top 10 to claim the women's team title with a score of 41 (1-2-6-9-23). Wisconsin-La Crosse was second with a score of 56, while Minnesota State held third place at 65. Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) placed fourth at 106 and Concordia College-Moorhead (Minn.) followed in fifth at 147.
The Bearcats will compete again on Saturday, Oct. 5, when they host the 45th Annual Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational at Bush's Pasture Park in Salem, Oregon. The first of four races is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. (PDT).