SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth cross country seasons got off to a strong start on Friday morning at the Clash of the Inland Northwest meet on The Course in Spokane Valley.
The Pirate men finished in fifth place while the women's team took sixth place.
Led by London Haley, Whitworth's men finished behind three NCAA Division I schools and one NCAA Division II school. Gonzaga swept the top five spots to win with 15 points, followed by Eastern Washington (79), Idaho (82), Northwest Nazarene (99) and Whitworth (140). Spokane Colleges (159) was sixth, Walla Walla (212) was seventh, Whitman (215) was eighth and Everett CC (264) was ninth.
Haley covered the eight-kilometer course in 244:45.0 to take 20th place. GU's Dylan Weniger won in 23:49.8.
Josiah Kann finished 47th in his first race as a Pirate with a time of 25:57.3. Hector Gomez was 54th in his initial race in 26:05.5. Tristan Morris (26:06.0) was right behind in 55th and Alex McIntyre (26:15.5) was 58th to round out the Whitworth scorers.
The women's team scores were: Gonzaga 15, Northwest Nazarene 74, Eastern Washington 84, Idaho 111, Spokane Colleges 127, Whitworth 135, Everett CC 238, Whitman 245, Walla Walla 273.
Lily Jones led the Pirate women across the line with a time of 22:18.7 on the six-kilometer course. She finished in 22nd place, just ahead of Kezlie Thygesen, who was 24th in 22:23.3.
Gonzaga's Sloan Dickson won in 20:22.2.
Ashlyn Dary finished 37th in 23:07.4, while Madilyn Danaraj was 38th in 23:09.0. Reagan Rich rounded out Whitworth's scoring in 43rd (23:12.0).
The Pirates will return to action on Sept. 19th at the Pacific Lutheran Invitational.
