COLFAX, Wash. — The Eastern Washington cross country teams each notched fifth place finishes at the Cougar classic. The men finished with a score of 134, while the women finished with a score of 152.
 
"The guys have some big goals and are on a mission this season," said head coach Sam Read. "The top 5 wasted no time on some of those goals and all put up PRs in our first 8k of the season."

"Today was a great early season test for the squad," said Director of Track and Field / Cross Country Erin Tucker. "We had lots of PRs in the top-5. Both sides to finish fifth against an amazing field and we are happy with the progression. We will be back on this course in November for the West Region XC meet and I am glad we got to preview the course. Now back to work to get ready for the next meet.  We are moving in the right direction, Go Eags!"

Full Meet Results

Noah Hasselblad led the men's team with a standout performance, finishing ninth with a personal best time of 24:09.8. Evan Peters also had a strong showing, placing 17th, while Marcus Lemon and Austin Steed set personal records in 39th and 41st place, respectively. Jesus Herrejon rounded out the team in 48th, securing crucial points for Eastern.
"Noah's race was that next step he's been wanting, and he should walk away from this race with a lot of confidence for the rest of the season", said Read. "The Marcus and Jesus duo working off each other this race was a lot of fun to watch. They did great building off each other!"

"The women ran really tough. They went out hard and kept the gas pedal down in the middle. The aggressiveness definitely cost us in the end but I'm really proud of them for testing their limits." 

Sara Sanders and Jenni Bissell led the women's team with strong performances, finishing 27th and 28th, respectively. Sanders clocked in at 21:38.1, while Bissell followed closely with a time of 21:39.9, both setting personal bests. Cassidy Walchak-Sloan also contributed significantly, finishing 33rd, with Ellie Linnenburger and Nattie Ruzauskas close behind in 35th and 36th place.
 
"Sara had breakout race today, it would've been easy for her to count herself out of XC after a tough freshman year and being more middle distance oriented this past track season," said Read. "But instead kept believing she belonged and lead the way for us. Also, we added back in Jenni and Nattie into our pack, and both played a big role in our front pack today!"

Up Next
Eastern will split its time at the Gans Creek Invite on Friday, Sept. 27 in Columbia, Mo., and at the Whitman Invite on Saturday, Sept. 28 in Walla Walla, Wash.   
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.

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