SALEM, Ore. - Whitworth University took second place in both the men's and women's competitions on Saturday afternoon at the Willamette Grass Course race, while both Jo E Mayer (So., Spokane, Wash.) and Nick Gallagher (Fr., Bedford, Iowa) each took third individually in their respective races.

Both Mayer (above) and Gallagher finished third individually

Mayer led the Pirate women to second place in the four team competition. The team scores were Willamette 24, Whitworth57, Team GFR 82 and Oregon State JV 83. Mayer ran the 5 kilometer course in 19:04.06 and finished 13 seconds behind Maddie Coffman of Willamette who won in 18:52.92.

Sara Wrightman (Fr., Bend, Ore.) finished 17th in 19:44.01, while Jenna Cunningham (Jr., Central Point, Ore.) and Emily Morehouse (So., Grants Pass, Ore.) were 20th (19:47.23) and 21st (19:49.62), respectively. Stephanie Melrose (Jr., Bellevue, Wash.) rounded out the Whitworth scorers in 23rd place with a time of 19:55.28.

The men's team scores were: Willamette 18, Whitworth 41, Pacific (Ore.) 85. Gallagher ran the 7.1 kilometer course in 22:28.15, finishing less than ten seconds behind Ian Batch of Willamette who won in 22:18.63.

Jacob Dietz (Sr., Mead, Wash.) took 7th in 23:02.50, while Dusty Caseria (So., Bellingham, Wash.) was right behind in 8th place (23:07.68). Jamie Daroff (Jr., Clearfield, Utah) and Jeff Forsyth (Jr., SeaTac, Wash.) were Whitworth's fourth and fifth runners, in 18th place (23:49.58) and 19th place (23:50.31), respectively.

Coming Up: Whitworth will host its only home meet of the 2007 next Saturday with the Whitworth Short Course Invitational. Both the men's and women's races will be a relative sprint at 3.2 kilometers. Most of the local teams will compete, including Gonzaga and the Community Colleges of Spokane. The first race will begin at 10:00 a.m.