This weekend the Whitworth women’s cross country team got a chance to showcase their talent at the 43rd Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational in Salem, Oregon. This weekend was also a chance to see where they stacked up against the rest of the conference. The Pirates ended up in fifth place overall. This includes division I and II teams as well. To top things off they were first in the Northwest Conference.

Senior Kayla Leland ran an impressive winning time of 17:37.1 for the 5 kilometer race. Senior Bailey Scott was second for the Pirates to cross the line, coming in at 18:21.4, Senior Thais Pedro-Trujillo was right behind in 18:44.4, freshman Krystal Roberts in 18:56, and to round out the scoring junior Marisa Mount in 19:20 senior Sara Dawes, senior Maddy Cook and freshman Hailey Cleavenger also had exceptional races.

“We are working to get stronger in both longer distance intervals, in addition to shorter intervals to help them run a good pace throughout their races in the future” Leland said.  In cross country you never know how a race is going to to go, and have to prepared for anything. Leland also stated how much everyone supports each other and how important that it in their success. Regarding the course, Leland talked about how the meet ended up on the track. With a past of being a sprinter she got to experience a fast, not to mention exciting finish, holding off all of her competitors that were chasing her down.  

On October 14 the Pirates will travel down to Estacada, Oregon to race at The Lewis & Clark Invitational.