Bellingham's Jake Riley & Eastern alum Mattie Suver win USATF national club cross country titles...
LEXINGTON, Kentucky--Bellingham native Jake Riley (left/photo by Mike Scott) and Eastern Washington alum Mattie Suver claimed the men's and women's individual titles at the USA Track & Field National Club Cross Country Championships at Masterson Park, two weeks after representing Team USA at the Chiba Ekiden in Japan.
Racing for team champion Hanson-Brooks Distance Project, Riley, who attended Sehome HS before an outstanding collegiate career at Stanford, cruised through the 10 km course in a final time of 29:59. He finished ahead of Craig Forys of the New York Athletic Club in a time of 30:06 and Elliot Krause, who was competing unattached and placed third in 30:06.
Suver, who now resides in Boulder, Colorado, led a 1-2 finish by the Boulder Running Company, winning the 6k race in 20:01, with teammate Brianne Nelson second at 20:13, and University of Washington alum Katie Mackey third in 20:14, representing Club Northwest.
EAGLES OPEN INDOOR SEASON BY HOSTING CANDY CANE INVITE
In Cheney, Eastern Washington University track and field teams started off the indoor season Saturday by nabbing six qualifiers for the Big Sky Indoor Conference Championships at the Fifth Annual Candy Cane Invitational.
On the men’s side, senior Marlyn Anderson qualified in the shot put after taking first at the meet with a toss of 52-8 3/4 (16.07m). The Eagles had two qualifiers in the weight throw, including Zack Nielsen and Jordan Arakawa, who took first and second with marks of 56-10 3/4 (17.34m) and 55-11 3/4 (17.06m), respectively.
For the women, Eastern grabbed three qualifiers in its specialty, the pole vault. NCAA indoor scorer Keisa Monterola took first with a vault of 12-9 1/2 (3.90m). Freshman Anandae Clark made the most of her debut, clearing the bar at 12-3 1/2 (3.75m). Robin Taylor had a mark of 11-9 3/4 (3.60m), also qualifying her for the BSC Championships.
The men had a total of six event winners on the day, including freshman Kris Durr in the long jump, who had a mark of 22-7(6.88m). Sophomore Brad Michael placed first in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.64. Nick Stearns won both the pole vault (14-11, 4.55m) and the 55-meter hurdles (8.10).
Other top performances at the meet came from senior Whitney Leavitt, who placed second in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.33. She was followed closely by Kasey McNeill, who placed fourth in 7.35. Vania Tauvela finished second in the weight throw with a mark of 53-01 (16.18m). Elise Jepsen took second in the high jump, clearing the bar at 5-3 (1.60m).
In dual scoring, the Eastern men prevailed over Montana 45-30. The Grizzly women defeated Eastern 61-36.
NOTE: USA Track & Field and the sports information department at Eastern Washington University contributed to this report.
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