ESTACADA, Ore. – In the most competitive field the EOU Men's and Women's Cross Country teams have seen all year the Mounties didn't disappoint. On the women's side, the Mounties placed 14^th with 437 points out of 24 teams in the 6K race. The men stayed on track posting another very impressive performance taking second with 84 points in a field of 30 teams in the 8K.
 
A warm mid-October day brought with it a strange, hot wind. Both races provided a new set of challenges for many of the Mountaineers, especially those with less experience.
 
"Outside of last year's national team members, this was both groups' first crack at a large, packed field on a narrow course with a lot of rough footing," Head Coach Ben Welch said. "Running in such a large field is a very different experience and I thought both squads handled it well."
 
The women's team raced first and posted a strong showing against a loaded field of competition that included NCAA Division I competitors Eastern Washington, Oregon State, Seattle University, Portland State, and University of Portland who all finished in the top 10. EOU finished in the middle of the pack at 14 with 437 points.
 
Freshman Lauryn Mitchell posted another strong performance placing 65^th in a field of 289 runners. Mitchell finished with a time of 23:34.6 and was the only EOU runner in the top 100 for the women. Coming in next for the Mounties was Elisabeth Young with a time of 24:58.7 at No. 114. She was followed by Kendall Bonzani and Riley Morris with times of 25:31.1 and 25.31.3 respectively.
 
"The ladies, overall, ran quite well for this group's first time over 6,000 meters. Lauryn ran very well, especially considering she was a 200/400 runner on the track in HS and moved to the 800 last spring," Welch said. "I was impressed with how well all of them stayed patient and worked their way up throughout the race after a pretty conservative start."
 
The Men's Cross Country team didn't back down in the biggest race they have had to date. In a field of 30 teams, 369 runners, and six NCAA Division I teams the Mounties took second with 84 points. They were edged out only by Division I University of Portland.
 
"A few of the guys got out a little aggressive and paid the price a bit late in the race, but it was a good experiment, and experience, on their parts. I was very impressed with how well they handled the race," Welch said.
 
For the first time this season, Justin Ash wasn't the leading finisher for the Mountaineers as Cristian Mendoza ran a strong race taking 10^th place. The sophomore posted a time of 24:44.3. Not far behind was Ash who finished with a time of 24:54.3 in 18^th place. Hunter Nichols and Winston Telford also finished in the top 30 for EOU with times of 25:07.2 and 25:11.4. Former All-American Travis Running rounded out the top five for Eastern Oregon placing 39^th with a time of 25:29.9.
 
"Cristian Mendoza started out just a little bit more controlled and was rolling people up throughout the race," Welch said. "This was a very good test with all the top Conference teams except LCSC and they handled it well."
 
The Lewis & Clark Invitational marked the last race for the Mountaineers before the CCC Championships set to be ran on Friday, Nov. 4. The men's 8k will begin at 10 a.m. followed by the women's 5k at 11 a.m. The conference race will be held in Talent, Ore.