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

WINNECONNE, WIS. -- The Willamette University women's cross country team took eighth place out of 42 teams and the Bearcat men's team placed 20th out of 45 teams at the AAE Invitational at the Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne, Wis., on Saturday, Oct. 18. A total of 559 runners competed in the women's race, with 664 runners participating in the men's race.

University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh hosted the meet, which is one of the largest collegiate cross country events in the nation this season. It also served as a key tune-up for NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III runners prior to conference, regional and national competition.

Women's 6-Kilometer Race

Taylor Ostrander (Jr., Kenai, AK/Kenai Central HS) earned 17th place to lead three Willamette runners in the top 50 of the women's 6-kilometer race. Olivia Mancl (So., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) was 23rd and Michaela Freeby(Sr., Milwaukie, OR/Rex Putnam HS) placed 50th.

Ostrander recorded a time of 21:42.64. Mancl was timed at 21:48.05 and Freeby completed the course in 22:23.24. Also contributing to WU's team score were Juliet Farnan (Jr., Lafayette, CA/Campolindo HS), who placed 54th overall in 22:27.13, and Alyssa Reese (Fr., Louisville, CO/Monarch HS), who took 83rd in 22:46.10.

Hannah Bressler (Jr., Oak Harbor, WA/Oak Harbor HS) of WU registered a time of 22:49.69, as she placed 88th. Hannah Swanson (Fr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) completed the race in 23:05.43 and took 117th place.

The individual champion in the women's race was Lucy Cheadle from Washington University (Mo.) with a time of 20:44.01. Cheadle, a senior, placed fifth at last year's NCAA Division III Championships. Sophia Meehan from Johns Hopkins University (Md.) placed second on Saturday, finishing 12.46 seconds behind Cheadle at 20:56.47.

Samantha Rivard from University of Minnesota-Duluth was third in 20:58.54, and Allyson Winchester of Grand Valley State University (Mich.) was fourth at 21:02.73. Kendra Foley, another runner from GVSU, was fifth in 21:06.70.

Grand Valley State won the women's team title with a score of 30. The Lakers, who compete in NCAA Division II, placed four runner in the top 10 on their way to a 4-5-8-9-14 finish.

Minnesota-Duluth, also from Division II, placed second and earned a score of 98. Johns Hopkins was third at 106, with Massachusetts Institute of Technology in fourth at 127 and Augustana College (Ill.) in fifth at 135. Calvin College (Mich.) was sixth with a score of 203, while Washington University was seventh at 215 and Willamette was eighth at 220.

Men's 8-Kilometer Race

Yonny Castillo (Jr., Parkdale, OR/Hood River Valley HS) of Willamette was 56th in the men's race with a time of 25:29.3. He was 44th among scorers. Daniel Swanson (Sr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) placed 136th overall in 26:07.1. Jacob Shafi (Jr., Pleasanton, CA/Amador Valley HS) was 160th after ending the race in 26:16.0.

Also among Willamette's top five finishers were Patrick Loftus (Fr., Healdsburg, CA/Sonoma Academy) and Nathan Conrad (Jr., Bothell, WA/Bothell HS). Loftus earned a time of 26:30.8. Conrad was timed at 26:40.1.

Forrest Smith (Fr., Crested Butte, CO/Crested Butte HS) of WU was clocked at 26:50.9, and teammate Quinn Lindley (Sr., Monmouth, OR/Central HS) recorded a time of 27:05.3.

Winning the men's individual title was Alan Peterson from Grand Valley State in a time of 24:32.9. Troy Kelleher of North Central College (Ill.) was second at 24:35.3.

Evan Lewandowski from University of Wisconsin-Parkside took third place in 24:39.5, while Jordan Carpenter of UW-Oshkosh was fourth in 24:40.2. Josh Thorson of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire placed fifth in 24:43.6.

North Central won the men's team championship by achieving a score of 36. Grand Valley State was second at 69. UW-Eau Claire placed third at 140, with Augustana in fourth at 154 and UW-Parkside in fifth at 181.

NCAA Division III Results

The meet also was scored to show the standings among Division III teams. Willamette's women placed fourth in the Division III standings, with Johns Hopkins in first, MIT in second, and Calvin in third. The Bearcat men's team was 15th out of 37 Division III teams.

Individually, Ostrander was seventh, Mancl was 12th and Freeby was 31st in the Division III women's results. Castillo placed 27th in the Division III men's results.

Up Next for the Bearcats

Willamette will be in action again on Saturday, Nov. 1, when the Bearcats will host the Northwest Conference Championships at Bush's Pasture Park in Salem, Ore. The first race is slated to get underway at 10 a.m. (PDT).