Men and women both finish in top 20 at latest invitational

Josh McCabe and Shelise Walker lead the Wolverines

The men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to Minneapolis, Minn., on Sept. 25 to compete in the Roy Griak Invitational.

Overall, the men’s team finished in 12th place, two spots ahead of Arizona, which had the overall top-placed runner.

Cross country Coach Scott Houle said of the men’s effort, “Comparing us from this year and last year, a lot of runners improved their times.”

The women’s team placed 17th at the event. Houle was very pleased with their performance, saying, “Even though the girls didn’t place as high as last year, the overall times improved greatly.”

The women’s team competed without top runner Mary Nothum due to injury and Kodi Kleven due to illness.

Placing for the men’s team were Josh McCabe with a time of 24:58 (26th), Spencer Evensen (25:46, 73rd), Jared Keller (25:54, 76th), Tim Rowberry (26:05, 86th), Logan Petty (26:46, 114th), Trevor Baker (26:48, 118th) and Cliff Nielson (27:23, 138th).

Houle praised McCabe’s effort, remarking, “Josh McCabe had a great race.”

For the women, Shelise Walker ran a time of 21:58, which was good for 40th place, with Angela Baker running a time of 22:58, placing 109th.

“Shelise Walker had a wonderful meet,” Houle said. “Her time improved greatly from Wyoming.”

Rounding out the rest of the runners were Jessica Wilding (23:00, 111th), Krystal Harper (23:08, 118th), Aleina Eisenhauer-Winger (23:18, 127th), Stephanie Christensen (23:27, 130th) and Brooke Hodson (23:42, 140th).
The next meet will be held this Saturday, Oct. 9, at the SUU Invitational in Cedar City.