Junior
Carter Ledwith won the men's race to highlight performances for the Eastern Washington University men's and women's cross country teams as the Eagles opened their 2020-21 season at the Idaho Orchards Cross Country Invitational in Lewiston, Idaho.
The Eastern men finished third and the women were fourth among the NCAA Division I teams at the event. Sophomore
Kaylin Sheley was the top finisher for Eastern's women with a 19th-place finish.
A 2018 graduate of Lewis & Clark High School in Spokane, Ledwith won the men's 8,000-meter race with a time of 25:07.2. He was victorious by nearly five seconds over Montana's Joel Mendez, who had a time of 25:12.1.
"Carter got his first collegiate win," said Eastern head coach
Sam Read. "He ran an impressive race, making a strong move at the toughest part of the race. That move takes a lot of guts and belief."
Eastern, Idaho, Washington State and Montana were the schools taking part. Montana won the men's competition and Idaho was victorious for the women.
It was the only regular season meet of the Covid-19 delayed 2020-21 season for the Eagles, who will compete in the Big Sky Conference Championships on Feb. 27 at the Riverside Golf Course in Riverdale, Utah.
Men's Team Scoring
1. Montana 27
2. Idaho 47
3. Eastern Washington 60
EWU Men's Finishers (8,000 Meters)
1.
Carter Ledwith 25:07.2
13.
Ethan Green 26:01.2
14.
Alec Kness 26:32.3
16. Jamie Christner 27.21.6
17.
Drew Whited 27:25.7
18.
Danny Maxwell 27:26.2
19.
Lucas Robert 27:46.2
Women's Team Scoring
1. Idaho 31
2. Washington State 38
3. Montana 58
4. Eastern Washington 108
EWU Women's Finishers (5,000 Meters)
19.
Kaylin Sheley 18:29.8
21.
Jenni Bissell 18:31.5
24.
Megan Pitzman 18:42.9
27.
Anna Harrison 18:52.6
28.
Maddie Drennen 18:57.7
29.
Phoenix Aguilar 19:06.0
32.
Lilly Fetzer 20:15.0
33.
Jalina Lindstrom 20:29.3
More Comments from Head Coach Sam Read
On Women's Race: "Our women did awesome. We had five girls run a sub 19-minute race and our top five spread was right around 30 seconds. That is depth we haven't shown in awhile. Kaylin, Jenni and Megan led a great charge up front. They packed up and ran really well together and fed off each other. Jenni had a huge personal record by almost a minute and a half."
On Other EWU Men's Finishers: "The rest of the guys gained some confidence today too. We packed up well but still have some work to close the gaps on the other teams."
On Meet: "The coaches and I had so much fun today. It's been such a long time that you kind of forgot how much fun it is actually competing. We were enjoying it just as much as the athletes."
