Final Results

SALEM, Oregon -- Competing in one of the largest meets on the West Coast, the Christopher Newport cross country teams pieced together a slew of outstanding efforts as the men placed fourth and the women came in sixth during the 40th Annual Charles Bowles Invitational at Willamette's Bush Park on Saturday afternoon.

Facing an incredible collection of collegiate programs, the men finished fourth overall and second among Division III teams. Only Oregon, who sits third in the Division I national rankings, Chico State, who ranks sixth in Division II, and Willamette beat CNU's score of 177. Overall, the Captains averaged 26:13 over the 8k, which was less than two minutes behind Oregon and 30 seconds behind Willamette.

On the women's side, CNU came in sixth overall and fourth among Division III teams. All of the programs that finished ahead of the Captains are currently recognized in the USTFCCCA National Rankings. Christopher Newport posted a score of 205 during the meet and averaged 19:13 over the 5k course. Chico State, who ranks sixth in Division II, paced the field with 45 points. Willamette, who ranks 12th in Division III, finished second with a score of 52. Central Washington, Whitworth, and Puget Sound rounded out the top-five.

"I'm really happy with how things turned out overall considering we ran back-to-back weekends and had a long trip out here," said head coach Matthew Barreau. "We handled everything very well and competed hard. We're still trying to figure out how good we are, but we're showing progress. Nobody was completely satisfied with their races today, which is a good attitude to have when you can run well but still want more."

The men were led by Billy Rabil, who came in 36th overall with a time of 25:52.31. That clocking moves him to 16th on the program's all-time 8k performance list. JJ LaPointe, the reigning CAC Athlete of the Week, also crossed the line in under 26 minutes. The second-year standout eventually finished 38th overall in 25:55.88.

Leading the second-wave of Captains, Samuel Martin finished 54th with a time of 26:21.48, while Andrew Benfer and Bradley Turner were less than five seconds back in 57th and 59th, respectively. The 34-second spread among CNU's top-five performers was the third-finest in the field behind only Oregon and Chico State.

"The men ran great as a group," said Barreau. "No one ran alone. We ran with packs. We helped each other, and you could really see that throughout the race. We did very well with a tight gap. Our first five guys had a 34-second spread. That tightness in our group is important. But we also need to place people at the front in meets like this. That was the main difference between us and Willamette today. They just had a couple front runners."

Among other performers for CNU, three other members registered top-100 efforts in the crowded field of over 150 competitors. Daniel Read led the group after coming in 78th with a time of 26:41.85. Charlie Pruitt came in next after completing the course in 26:57.35, which placed him 85th overall. Grayson Reid followed in 87th with a 27:02.95 clocking.

"The team came away encouraged with our effort," said Barreau. "There was a lot of talk about the fact that we can compete with Willamette. They're going to be a top-25 team this year, and to see our confidence growing is really encouraging for our program."

On the women's side, Logan Harrington led the Captains after finishing 36th overall with a time of 18:54.2. That clocking marks the program's fifth-fastest at the 5k distance and the best since 2001. Julie Machamer also broke the 19-minute mark after finishing 40th overall. The senior eventually clocked in at 18:59.5.

"Overall, I think our team did well," said Barreau. "Four of our women PRed pretty big, and both Logan and Julie broke 19-minutes. That's a great accomplishment. Only seven runners have done that in school history."

Just behind the squad's top-two performers, Emmie Schmitt finished 42nd after crossing the line in 19:05.0. Rounding out CNU's top-five, Lydia Cromwell came in 54th with a time of 19:23.4, while Hannah Bullen was 73rd in 19:41.7. Christopher Newport's point scorers had a spread of just over 47 seconds and an average of 19:13.

Along with the top-five, two other Captains placed in the top-100 during the meet. Briana Stewart finished 77th in 19:45.1. Deanna Corts also came in 99th in 20:07.2.

"The team that was right behind us on the women's side, Whitman, was ranked 33rd in the nation," said Barreau. "And the two teams right above us were 37th and 38th. Our goal out here with the women was to compete with those teams. We beat one of them and weren't too far off the others. That should give us some confidence that we are where we belong. We just have to put the race together."

Saturday's competition capped off a jam-packed few days for the CNU cross country program. In addition to the meet, the Captains spent time on their West Coast swing with a few sightseeing expeditions and visits with some of the most prominent individuals in track & field.

"The trip as a whole has been a phenomenal experience for the group," said Barreau. "We were able to see Hayward Field, which is one of the meccas of track & field in the world. We got to meet Alberto Salazar, a former World Record holder and Boston Marathon champ. We got to meet Bill Dellinger, one of Prefontaine's coaches and a former Bronze medalist. The trip gave our team the opportunity to learn more and more about our sport. I think the trip went very, very well."

Christopher Newport will return to action in two weeks when the squad hosts the CNU Invitational at Lee Hall Mansion on October 18.

---CNU---