By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- Keith Carlson (Jr., Bainbridge Island, WA/Bainbridge HS) of Willamette University took 10th place and teammate Michael Montague (Jr., San Diego, CA/Canyon Crest Academy) placed 13th out of 174 runners in the Men's Cardinal 8-kilometer race at the 44th Annual Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 29. In the Women's Cardinal 5-kilometer race, Willmatte's Hazel Carr (Sr., Seattle, WA/The Northwest School) finished 49th and Kyla Shade (Jr., Snohomish, WA/Snohomish HS) was 54th out of 197 runners. The Cardinal races featured teams from all three NCAA Divisions.
Carlson earned a career-best time of 24:46.9 in the Men's Cardinal race. He significantly lowered his previous top 8-kilometer time of 25:27.1 at the 2017 Northwest Conference Championships. Montague completed Saturday's course in another career-best time of 24:51.4. Montague's previous record time was 25:28.3 at last year's Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational.
Carr and Shade also set personal records in the Women's Cardinal race. Carr was timed at 18:37.0, as she reduced her top time by 41.5 seconds from 19:18.5 at last year's Charles Bowles meet. Shade achieved a time of 18:43.1 to break her previous best time of 19:18.2, also set at last year's Charles Bowles meet.
Willamette took eighth place in the Men's Cardinal team standings with a score of 274. The Bearcats placed 11th in the Women's Cardinal team standings, edging out Northwest Conference opponent Whitworth University on a tie-breaker after both squads finished with scores of 350.
The Bearcats were the top NCAA Division III team in the overall men's standings and the second highest Division III team in the women's standings. Colorado College was the top Division III women's team in 10th place at 315. Among Division III men's teams, Colorado College was second behind Willamette, as the Tigers grabbed 10th place at 277.
In the Men's Cardinal 8-kilometer race, the individual champion was Andrew Rafla from Boise State University (Idaho) with a time of 24:09.2. Riley Campbell, also from Boise State, placed second in 24:12.2. Third place went to Peter Allegre from University of Portland with a time of 24.32.0. Silas Griffith of Lipscomb University (Tenn.) was fourth at 24:33.4, as he narrowly edge out Colin Monaghan from University of Puget Sound, who finished fifth at 24:33.8
Boise State won the Men's Cardinal team title with a score of 37 (1-2-6-7-21). University of Portland was second at 48, with Lipscomb in third at 68. Portland State University was fourth at 144 and Central Washington University placed fifth with a score of 212.
Joining Carlson and Montague as runners who contributed to Willamette's score in the mens race were Robbie Melhorn (Sr., Bangkok, Thailand/International School Bangkok), Kellen Bulger (Jr., Spokane, WA/Ferris HS) and Alex Matteson (Fr., Seattle, WA/Nathan Hale HS). Melhorn crossed the finish line in 85th overall and 70th among scorers in 26:44.6. Bulger completed the course in 27:19.6, while Matteson was timed at 27:24.3.
Kristie Schoffield of Boise State won the championship in the Women's Cardinal 5-kilometer race with a time of 17:10.7. Julia Fritz from Lipscomb took second at 17:14.1, and Olivia Johnson from Boise State was third in 17:19.8. Alexa Shindruk grabbed fourth place by reaching the finish line in 17:21.0. Claire Graves, also from BSU, placed fifth in 17:22.0.
The Boise State women claimed the Women's Cardinal team title by earning a score of 30 (1-3-5-6-15). Lipscomb gathered in second place at 68, while Portland State followed in third at 97. Seattle Pacific University and University of Portland tied at 140, but SPU won the tie-breaker to place fourth and Portland was fifth.
Willamette team scorers in addition to Carr and Shade were Maggie Chapin (Jr., Buffalo, WY/Buffalo HS), Emily Evans (Sr., Anchorage, AK/South Anchorage HS) and Risa Shutz (So., Redmond, WA/Redmond HS). Chapin and Evans placed back-to-back, with Chapin in 76th at 19:11.1 and Evans just one-half second behind in 77th at 19:11.6. Among scorers, Chapin was 68th and Evans was 69th. Shutz recorded a time of 20:27.8.
The Men's Gold 8-kilometer race, featuring teams from the NAIA, junior colleges and club teams, plus unattached runners was won by Justin Hazell in 24:58.3. Hazell competed unattached. Shane Henderson of Lane Community College was second at 25:08.1 and teammate Andy Muha took third at 25:14.7. Robert Pedersen, an unattached runner, placed fourth in 25:18.5. Lane Inwards from Eastern Oregon University was fifth in 25:22.4.
Lane CC hauled in first place in the Men's Gold team standings at 49 (1-2-7-9-30). Eastern Oregon was second at 57, while Northwest Christian University was third at 82. Community College of Spokane took fourth at 85. Oregon Institute of Technology placed fifth at 128.
In the Women's Gold 5-kilometer race, Jenn Randall led the way as an unattached athlete. She beat the field with a time of 17:37.8. Randall won by 13.7 points.
Susie Garza from Oregon Tech placed second in 17:51.5. Eleora Erikson, running unattached, took third place at 17:58.8. Erikson finished one second in front of Delia Deleon, who was fourth at 17:59.8. Cindy Reed garnered fifth place in 18:02.7.
The Women's Gold team standings were topped by Oregon Tech with a score of 33 (1-3-4-12-13). Northwest Christian placed second at 69, while CC of Spokane took third at 88. Eastern Oregon was fourth with a score of 108. Corban University was fifth with a score of 124.
Willamette will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 13, when the Bearcats will run at the University of Wisconson-Oshkosh Kollege Town Sports Invitational. The meet will be held at the Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne, Wisconsin.
