After a long break following the pandemic, the Eastern Washington University cross country teams are excited to kick-off their 2020-21 season. The Eagles will go to Lewiston, Idaho, on Saturday (Feb. 6) for the Idaho Orchards Cross Country Invitational.

This meet will include four teams -- Idaho, Eastern, Washington State, and Montana. The event will take place at the Lewiston Community Park, beginning with the women's 5-kilometer race at 1 p.m. and will be followed by the men's 8K at approximately 1:45 p.m. In order to follow Covid-19 safety measures there will be no spectators allowed at this time. However, results are available at www.govandals.com and www.directathletics.com at the conclusion of the competition.

"We're all eager to compete again," said head coach Sam Read. "It feels like we have been away forever, especially as a group that usually competes year-round. We're very thankful and excited just to have this opportunity."
 
"A big shout out to Idaho for putting a meet together," added Read. "Logistics are beyond that for a 'normal' meet and I'm sure a lot of work went into putting this meet together. A big thank you needs to go to them."

The Eastern men's team has 10 returning letterwinner and two newcomers. The women return eight letterwinners from last year's team and have four newcomers, all of them being 2020 high school graduates.

The 2021 Big Sky Conference XC Championships are scheduled to take place Feb. 27 at the Riverside Golf Course in Riverdale, Utah. The NCAA XC Championships are scheduled to take place on March 15 and the site is still to be determined.
 
As of now, this is the only meet that Eastern has on the schedule, aside from the conference championships, and the NCAA meet.
      
                                                                                

Men's Outlook

The Eagles lost only one letterwinner from last year's team and will return seven juniors, two sophomores, and one senior for the upcoming season. Also, the top finisher of the 2019 Big Sky Conference Championships is back this year for his junior season.
 
Carter Ledwith is returning for the Eags and was the top finisher for Eastern at the 2019 conference championships, placing 29th on the 8,000-meter course with a time of 28:30.3. He also finished the highest for Eastern in the 2019 NCAA West Regional Meet, placing 63rd in the 10,000 meters with a time of 31:09.5.
 
Six of the other returning letterwinners also competed in the 2019 conference championship meet – Ethan Green competed as a junior, Ronan Price, Jack Sloan, Jacob Stirpe, and Drew Whited competed as sophomores, and Alex Kness competed as a freshman. Lucas Robert will compete for the first time as a redshirt freshman.
 
The two newcomers include Danny Maxwell (Spokane, Wash. / Lewis & Clark HS). Maxwell placed 18th at the 2019 4A State Championships with a personal best of 15:41.2 on the 5,000-meter course.
 
The second newcomer is another Spokane area high school graduate, Jamie Christner. He graduated from North Central in 2019 and his 5K personal best was his senior year with a time of 16:57.0.
 
Coach Sam Read's thoughts on this upcoming season – goals and expectations for the men's team.

"Our men's team has some big goals for this upcoming outdoor track season and future years. We need to set the tone for that this winter season."
 
"We improved placing in the Big Sky last year and have the intention of moving up more. With some injuries and graduation, we may not be as strong up front. However, I believe the team as a whole is stronger. This season will be a great opportunity for us and likely hinge on how well our depth is able to step up and fill the role of a scoring runner."
 
 

Women's Outlook

 
The Eagles lost three letterwinners from last year's team, and will return eight letterwinners coming into this season. The team includes four returning juniors and four sophomores, as well as four incoming freshmen.
 
Kaylin Sheley, Maddie Drennen, and Kenzie Gaines all competed for the Eagles at the 2019 Big Sky Conference championships as freshmen last season. Sheley is the top returner as she had the second-best finish for the Eagles, finishing 60th in the 5,000 meters. Returners, Megan Pitzman, Molly Beaman, and Phoenix Aguilar also competed for the Eagles in the 2019 conference meet.

Among the four newcomers, Marielise Taylor is coming out of Spokane's North Central HS. She was a frequent 3A State qualifier in the cross country championships, appearing all four years of high school and placing in the top nine three of the four years. In 2019, Taylor placed sixth in her senior season, helping North Central win the title on the 5,000-meter course. Her 5K personal best was in 2019 with a time of 18:04.6.

Other newcomers are Lilly Fetzer from West Valley HS (Yakima, Wash.) with a 5,000-meter personal best of 19:36.4 and Jenni Bissell out of Central Valley HS in Veradale, Wash., who has a personal best in the 5,000 meters of 19:50.0.
Rounding out the newcomers is Jalina Lindstrom from Granite Hills HS (Granite Hills, Calif.) who placed fifth at the CIF Southern Section Preliminaries for Divsions 1 & 3 with a time of 18:35.5 on the 3-mile course. Her record time in the three-mile race was 18:00.8.

Coach Sam Read's thoughts on this upcoming season – goals and expectations for the women's team.
 
"I'm expecting that we will see personal records right away and will get some momentum going into conference."
 
"The returners on the women side have put in a lot of quality work since everything was shut down last spring. It's a unique situation, where even with workouts and time trials, I'm still not really sure what they are capable of because of how much they have improved since last year."
 
"Our incoming group, mixed right in with our team, and will provide some depth that our women's team has been needing the last two years."