Whitworth Men Finish in Third Place

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- The Whitworth University women's cross country team won an early-season showdown with a pair of nationally-ranked opponents by placing three runners among the top four finishers to take first place at the Whitman Invitational Saturday at Fort Walla Walla Park.

Tonya Turner

Tonya Turner led the way for the Pirates, running to victory over the four kilometer course in a time of 14:34.76, well ahead of the second place runner from Lewis-Clark State.

Dana Misterek was third in 14:47.17, while freshman Joy Shufeldt was fourth in 14:58.79. Kathryn Williams took 10th (15:28.60) and Emily Morehouse was 15th (15:37.69) to round out the Whitworth scorers.

The final team scores were: Whitworth 33, Lewis-Clark State 40, Whitman 47, University of Great Falls 115. Whitworth came into the meet ranked 25th in the USATFCCCA Division III poll. Whitman was 22nd in the DIII ratings, while LCSC is ranked 9th in the NAIA preseason poll.

The final men's team scorers were: LCSC 21, Great Falls 62, Whitworth 65, Whitman 84.

Nick Gallagher, the defending NCAA Division III West Region champion, finished 8th overall with a time of 19:51.53. Dave Marks of LCSC won in 19:07.38 over the six kilometer men's course.

Dusty Caseria was 12th in 20:04.52, followed by Aaron Jenkins (20:07.97) in 13th place and Collin Stewart (20:08.85) in 14th place. Trevor Berrian rounded out the top five finishers for Whitworth in 19th place (20:17.66).

Women's Results (PDF) / Men's Results (PDF)

Whitworth will return to action in two weeks at the University of Washington Sundodger Invitational at Lincoln Park.