UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. – The Lane Community College men's and women's cross country teams claimed both NWAC Cross Country Championship titles on Saturday at Chambers Creek Regional Park.
MEN'S RACE
After two years since the last championship meet, the men's 8,000-kilometer race opened the morning with 10 teams and 67 runners. Lane and Spokane entered the race as the favorites to hoist the trophy, having combined to win the last six championships between the pair. The friendly rivalry did not disappoint, as just six points separated the title.
The Titans finished with 46 team points to Spokane's 52. Lane was led by Logan Auxier, who took second place with a time of 26 minutes, 1.4 seconds. Ethan Hosang placed fifth for the Tians in 26:16.7. Spokane had the sixth and seventh place finishers as Issak Chol and Anthony Carlascio placed back-to-back less than a second apart.
Green River College's Cayan Dibble won the individual title on the day, finishing in 25:57.2. Dibble kept up his dominance from the regular season meets, having never lost to a fellow NWAC runner this year. He was also the winner of the NWAC Preview Meet earlier this season. Dibble helped lead the Gators to fifth place as a team.
Olympic College's Ryan Clough placed third in 26:08 to earn All-American. Whatcom's Roberto Aguilera Jr. crossed the finish line in 26:14.8 for fourth place. Lane added another top runner with Jacob Powell taking eighth in 26:24.7. Spokane's Gideon Swanson and Travis Hick took ninth and 10th, respectively to round out the top-10.
Whatcom placed third overall with 98 points, followed by Clark with 124 and Green River with 132.
WOMEN'S RACE
Unlike the men's title, the women's team championship was easily won by the Lane Titans, who finished with 42 points. Spokane was well behind in second with 100 points. Lane had its top-five runners all place 16th or better.
The individual title went down to the wire as the top-two runners finished within 0.3 seconds of each other. Running down the final stretch, Lane's Piper Crook was leading the way to the finish line. However, Whatcom's Izabelle Anderson gave everything she had left to chase down Crook and win the individual crown. Anderson finished in 18:49.9 while Crook crossed in 18:50.2.
Whatcom had two of the top-three finishers as Alyce Harlan was the next finisher in 19:11.8. Pierce's Jasmine Davis took fourth in 19:15, followed by Umpqua's Pamela Decko in 19:42 for fifth. Lane had the next two finishers with Jazmine Liebl and Olivia Flack in sixth and seventh, rounding out the NWAC All-Americans.
Clark College placed third as a team with 110 points. Pierce placed fourth with 124 points and Everett completed the top-five with 134 points.
Lane head coach Bill Steyer was named the NWAC Coach of the Year for both the men's and women's teams.