Missoula, Mont. — The Eastern Washington University cross country teams led a solid performance in the second meet of the season at the Montana Invitational on Sept. 15, previewing the 2023 Big Sky Championship course at University of Montana Golf Course in Missoula, Mont. Eastern men finished second at the meet while the women finished fourth.

Eagle's men were led by junior Noah Hasselblad, who placed seventh with a time of 24:45.6. Cam McChesney and Evan Peters followed in 14th and 15th, respectively.

"(It was a) good step in the right direction but we still have more to give," said head cross country coach Sam Read. "The biggest thing we saw this week was the training acclimatization setting in for our newbies and they had a big impact for our team this week."

Sophomore Nattie Ruzauskas finished 10th in the women's 5K at 18:00.6, making this the second meet in a row in the top 10 finishers. Following her lead was senior Kaylin Sheley with a time of 18:13.8, placing 12th overall.

"The first two meets are a preview of what I think we are going to see all year from this (women's) squad. A deep pack of runners that are going to trade around final finishing spots with different women stepping up each meet. We have so many different combos of women that can step up and score for us and that is what gives us some great strength.

"Both Nattie and Madi (Carr) made some strong moves in the middle of the race and moved up quite a few spots." 

The Eagle men scored 78 points, behind only Montana State's 15-point sweep, The EWU women scored 81 points for fourth behind Montana State (29), Weber State (61) and Colorado State Pueblo (73).

"It was a great experience to get on the course and be able to figure out how we want to run it and how to use our strengths."

The Eagles' next meet will be split on Sept. 30, with some competing at the Live in Lou Classic in Louisville, Ky. while others will head to the Whitman Invitational in Walla Walla, Wash.

Men's Performances
7th Noah Hasselblad (24:45.6)
14th Cam McChesney (25:07.2)
15th Evan Peters (25:09.6)
20th Jesus Herrejon (25:23.1)
22nd John Hoffer (25:28.4)
23rd Charlie Ledwith (25:29.9)
26th Owen Higgins (25:45.4)
28th Jamie Christner (25:49.7)
34th Austin Steed (26:06.1)
39th Anthony Carlascio (26:22.5)
45th Marcus Lemon (26:39.0)
55th Alec Kness (27:12.4)
60th Danny Maxwell (27:39.6)

Women's Performances
10th Nattie Ruzauskas (18:00.6)
12th Kaylin Sheley (18:13.8)
20th Madi Carr (18:22.9)
21st Lilly Fetzer (18:24.1)
27th Jenni Bissell (18:34.9)
29th Ellie Linnenburger (18:37.2)
34th Jasmin Muneton (18:50.0)
41st Faith Martinez (19:08.9)
42nd Adrienne Root (19:14.6)
44th Maddie Drennen (19:18.9)
54th Sara Sanders (19:49.4)
56th Amanda Nygard (19:50.5)
58th Rylee Brandon (19:52.4)
66th Kylie Castleman (20:17.1)
 

---

ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Eastern Washington University Athletics sponsors 14 intercollegiate sports, six for men and eight for women, both as learning opportunities for its most athletically talented students and as an enhancement to student and community life. Eastern is affiliated with Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is a member of the Big Sky Conference, an association of 10 regional schools with comparable enrollments and academic goals.

FOLLOW THE EAGLES
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram