By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Willamette University Bearcats placed fifth out of 11 men's cross country teams at the Warner Pacific Classic on Saturday, Oct. 19 at Lents Park. Leading Willamette was Carson Herrick (So., Newberg, OR/Newberg HS), who placed 58th overall and 27th among scorers. Willamette did not compete in the women's 5-kilometer race.
Herrick was followed closely by teammates Gabriel Regimbal (Fy., Bellingham, WA/Squalicum HS) in 65th place (30th among scorers), Ronan Davies in 68th (32nd), and Kellen Bulger (Sr., Spokane, WA/Ferris HS) was 74th overall (36th). Completing Willamette's team were Ian Curtis (Fy., Eugene, OR/South Eugene HS) in 87th place, Alex Matteson (So., Seattle, WA/Nathan Hale HS) in 92nd and Matt Ihling (So., Boise, ID/Capital HS) in 93rd. A total of 134 runners competed in the men's race.
University of Portland won the men's team title with a score of 18 (1-2-3-5-7). College of Idaho took second at 57 and Portland State University was third at 94. Corban University placed fourth at 120, with Willamette in fifth at 168 and Northwest Christian University in sixth at 172.
The individual men's champion was Joe Horen from the University of Portland in 25:02.9. He crossed the finish line at nearly the same moment as Joey Duerr of Portland, who was second in 25:03.0, and Michael Teran-Solano of Portland, who placed third in 25:03.1. The trio of UP runners were followed by two unattached competitors, as Jackson Baker was fourth at 25:09.5 and Bradley Peloquin claimed fifth place at 25:11.5.
Also on Saturday, Willamette participated in the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Kollege Town Sports Invitational in Winneconne, Wisconsin. The Bearcats will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 2 during the Northwest Conference Championships at Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood, Washington. The NWC meet is set to begin with the 8-kilometer men's race at 10 a.m. (PDT), followed by the 6-kilometer women's race at 11 a.m.