FULL RESULTS
 
LEWISTON, Idaho – A cross country program that has had numerous NAIA All-Americans and nationally qualifying teams, it was senior Alex Navarro who finally broke the program's long-standing record from 1982, eclipsing the top mark at the Inland Empire Meet on Saturday.
 
Navarro, who had never run a cross country until his freshman year in 2015, broke through with an incredible race on Saturday for the Mountaineers. His time of 23:51.0 broke EOU's record that was set by EOU and NAIA Hall of Famer Don Stearns in 1982. Stearns record lasted for over 37 years at 24 minutes even.
 
"In his true humble fashion, when I congratulated him on breaking the record I have had guys chasing for 29 years, [Alex] smiled, threw his hands in the air and said 'Who knew it would be me?'" said head coach Ben Welch.
 
Navarro had previously just set his personal best time the week prior at 24:57.2, taking off over a minute this Saturday. His goal on the day was to run under 24:30. In an absolutely loaded field that included runners from the University of Calgary, Gonzaga, Idaho and Lewis-Clark State, Navarro took seventh place overall, leading EOU to a seventh place team finish.
 
Junior Hunter Schiess was the team's second place finisher, running a 30-second PR from the previous week at 25:35 for a 53rd place finish. Sophomore Travis Running ran three seconds faster than the week prior at 25:44 for 56th place.
 
Fellow sophomore Brennen Lebel and freshman Hunter Nichols were just behind in 58th and 59th place. Lebel had a big PR at 25:47 while Nichols had the 14th fastest time by a freshman in program history at 25:50.
 
Sophomore Robie Swanson had a season best run of 26:31, cutting his time by about 45 seconds. Weyekin Bill cut over a minute off his PR at 26:40. Overall, the men's team shaved off two and a half minutes form their team best time on the year.
 
The women had two runners at the meet as well. Stormy Bullard had a strong performance with a time of 19:40, cutting off 31 seconds from the week prior. Lisa Megargee, running in her first week in about two years, finished in 19:55.
  
For more information on Eastern Oregon cross country, follow @EOUAthletics or visit eousports.com.
 
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Contact: Iain Dexter; 541-962-3946; idexter@eou.edu