CALDWELL, Idaho – The Eastern Oregon University women's and men's cross country teams ran very well at the Coyote Twilight Meet hosted by The College of Idaho.
EOU's Karlee Coffey captured the women's race title, beating out NCAA Div. 1 runners from Boise State University, and No. 6 in the NAIA The College of Idaho. The freshman ran a minute and two seconds faster than her previous personal record in the 5,000-meter race. Coffey's time of 16:56.60 was the fastest time ran by a Cascade Collegiate Conference runner this season. Her time was nearly a minute faster than second-place Christine Olen, who ran unattached.
Sarah Hanchett was the second finisher to cross the line for the Mountaineers, with a time of 18:02.30. That time was 40 seconds faster than her previous record in the 5k set at the Willamette Invite on Oct. 3. Alma Garcilazo, Kendra Stone, and Talissa Baldovino all had times under 18:40 and finished in the top 15.
The No. 23 EOU women came in second behind the 'Yotes. The College of Idaho finished with 24 team points, compared to Eastern's 31. EOU finished with a team average of 18:05.72. COI ended the meet with an average of 18:09.60 as a team.
The No. 12 College of Idaho and No. 22 Eastern Oregon traded the top eight individual spots on the men's side. The 'Yotes Greg Montgomery's time of 23:55.70 was 2.9 seconds faster then the Mountaineers' Damion Flores. The top five runners on the men's side were only separated by 12 seconds in the 8,000-meter race.
Flores smashed his previous personal record of 25:14.32, by crossing the finish line Thursday night with a time of 23:58.60. The freshman's time was so fast it would have been the best time in the conference, previously set by No. 2 Southern Oregon standout David Laney, 24:13.30. Forrest Lumpry came in fourth place for the Mountaineers crossing the line at 24:05.50.
Terry Johnsen and Justin Dean both had top 10 finishes coming in sixth and eighth places respectively. Jeff Roy and Kevin Miller came in the top 15 with 12th and 15th place finishes. The College of Idaho's team average of 24:17.64 earned 26 team points. EOU was right behind with 32 points and a team average of 24:25.00. Treasure Valley Community College, Boise State University, Northwest Nazarene, and the Boise Track Club rounded out the team standings.
Eastern Oregon will take an extended break until the Cascade Collegiate Conference Championship meet on Nov. 7 in Eugene. On Sept. 19, the Mountaineer men finished first on that same course, and the EOU women came in second.
