SPOKANE, Wash. – Several Whitworth cross country runners concluded the 2026 season at the Tyson Invitational, hosted by Gonzaga University at The Course in Spokane Valley on Friday.
The Pirates can only race 10 men and 10 women at next week's Northwest Conference Championship meet. So those who will not compete at that meet raced today to close out the 2026 campaign. Both of Whitworth's teams finished in seventh place out of eight schools.
David McCain was the first Pirate man to finish. The first-year runner crossed in 34th place with a time of 26:29.7 on the eight-kilometer course. Gabe Coram was 41st (26:52.2), and Connor Tolzman was 43rd (26:56.6). Andrew Ta finished 55th (27:28.4), while Josiah Kann was 57th (27:31.3).
Gonzaga got the individual men's victory and the individual men's team victory by wide margins. Samy Anderson won the race in 24:09.1. The final team scores were: Gonzaga 15, Easten Oregon 61, Central Washington 99, Montana St. Billings 122, Walla Walla Univ. 133, Seattle Pacific 147, Whitworth 154, Montana Tech 237.
Jacquelyn Oelke led the Pirate women by placing 45th in 24:34.6 on the six-kilometer course. Bella Thompson was close behind in 49th (25:05.8) and Addison Simonds was 52nd (25:35.4). Elizabeth Cornelius took 55th (25:41.9) and Kami Gregory was 59th (26:19.5).
CWU got the team victory and the individual win in the women's race. Madeline Harrison finished first for the Wildcats in 21:02.3. The final women's team scores were: CWU 43, Gonzaga 45, Washington St. 62, Seattle Pacific 88, Eastern Oregon 111, Montana St.-Billings 166, Whitworth 208, Walla Walla 232.
The 2026 Northwest Conference championship meet will take place on October 31st at Oak Knoll GC in Independence, Oregon. George Fox University is the host school.
