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Saints take big strides at West Coast Preview
The Advocate
The women’s cross country team has undergone a transformation with only one athlete returning and seven freshmen joining the team this year.
The men have two freshman participants and five returning athletes.
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Cross country head coach Matt Hart said, “As we are still in the early part of our season, our emphasis in practice is to continue to gain fitness while also increasing valuable experience.”
The team started their season Sept. 5 in an NWAACC preview event in Battleground, Wash.
“I anticipate quite a few of our Mt. Hood athletes will be competitive during our championship season,” said Hart.
The second meet was the West Coast Preview hosted by the University of Portland Sept. 11.
Both teams came in seventh place: the men’s team earned 225 points, while the women had 218 points.
The men’s 8-kilometer race was won by Joash Osoro with a time of 25:30 and the first Saint to cross the finish line was Slavic Ishenin with a time of 29:22.
Ishenin finished 52 out of 75 athletes.
The second Saint was Matt Romey, in 61st place with a time of 30:34.
Lyndy Davis was the first woman to finish the 6K run with a time of 22:27. The Saints’ first athlete, Stacy Bird, came in 54th out of 69 with a time of 28:47.
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“Currently the frontrunners for our women’s team are Katy Echauri and Stacy Bird. Slavic Ishenin and Matt Romey are our frontrunners for men,” said Hart. “Things may change as others accumulate more fitness and experience but I anticipate all of our athletes improving and really challenging themselves athletically by the end of the year.”
Hart said the key to cross country is fitness and the individual results are determined by their level of fitness.
Hart said, “Our athletes are training six days a week and often twice a day; they run a lot.”
The next meet for the cross country team is the Northwest Classic at Lane Community College at 10 a.m. on Sept. 26.
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