By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

OREGON CITY, ORE. -- The Willamette University men's cross country team edged out the University of Oregon by a single point to win the Mike Hodges Invitational on Friday, Oct. 16 at Clackamas Community College. The WU women's team took sixth place.

Willamette's men recorded a score of 63 (7, 8, 15, 16, 17) to win the meet. Oregon finished with a score of 64 (2, 3, 12, 21, 26). Third place went to Xavier University (Ohio) with a score of 89, just two points better than the University of Washington, which took fourth at 91. Seattle University was fifth at 99. A total of 14 teams and 143 runners competed in the race.

The men's individual winner was Tommy Kaufmann of Xavier, who finished the 4-mile course in 19:54.40. He won by 1.2 seconds over Bryce Burgess of Oregon, who took second at 19:55.60. Kevin McNally of Oregon was third at 20:06.30.

Willamette's top finisher was Matt Parker (Jr., Portland, OR/Lincoln HS), who took 10th place overall (7th among scorers) with a time of 20:24.93. Leo Castillo (So., Parkdale, OR/Hood River Valley HS) of Willamette placed 12th (8th among scorers), as he crossed the finish line in 20:26.91.

The Bearcats' next four runners finished within a five-second span of each other to take 15th through 18th among scorers and secure the team title. Ben Donovan (So., Minneapolis, MN/South HS) was timed at 20:39.13 (15th for scoring) and Chris Platano (Jr., Myrtle Point, OR/Myrtle Point HS) clocked in at 20:39.64 (16th). Ryan McLaughlin (Jr., Milwaukie, OR/Milwaukie HS) finished in 20:43.05 (17th) and Stefan Redfield (Jr., Sisters, OR/Sisters HS) concluded the race in 20:44.06 (18th).

In the women's 5-kilometer race, Oregon claimed first place in the team standings. The Ducks achieved a score of 22 points (1, 3, 5, 6, 7) to win by 55 points. The University of Portland was second with a score of 77, while Washington took third at 86. Xavier placed fourth with a score of 97, Portland State was fifth at 122 and Willamette was sixth at 126.

The women's individual title was earned by Anne Kesselring of Oregon. She clocked in at 17:50.52 to win by just over four-and-a-half seconds. Kayla Evans of Washington placed second in 17:55.06 and Brooke Giuffre of Oregon was third at 17:58.41.

Kimber Mattox (So., Bend, OR/Bend HS/Cornell Univ.) of Willamette took 16th (10th among scorers) in her first competition of the season. Mattox completed the race in 18:45.19. She also is a member of Willamette's women's soccer team, as well as the track and field team.

Mattox was followed closely by teammate Tina Patel (Jr., Bend, OR/Bend HS), who took 17th. Patel's time was 18:45.65.

Willamette's Amanda Tamanaha (Fr., Honolulu, HI/St. Andrews Priory) placed 42nd (32nd among scorers) at 19:36.03. Kaitlin Greene (So., Pullman, WA/Pullman HS) was 49th at 19:45.39 and Theresa Edwards (Fr., Lake Tapps, WA/Bonney Lake HS) was 50th at 19:47.94. Green was 36th and Edwards was 37th among scorers. The race featured 12 teams and a total of 127 runners.

The Bearcats will compete again on Saturday, Oct. 24 at the Beaver Classic in Corvallis, Ore., and on Saturday, Oct. 31 at the Northwest Conference Championships. The NWC Meet will be held at McIver Park in Estacada, Ore.