November 9, 2002

HARRIERS BECOME ONE WITH THE MUD

AT FINAL COMPETITION

Medford, OR – The day before the NAIA Region I/Cascade Conference Championships athletes and coaches commented on how flat and fast the course would be. Saturday morning saw the race course drenched with a night of rain that continued through the day, thereby eliminating any need to focus on finish times. Long spikes were the order of the day and a few hot showers would have been a welcome post-race luxury. The women tested the waters first over the multi-loop 5 kilometer course and the race quickly became an exercise in staying on your feet in the soggy conditions. The undefeated Emily Mondor of Simon Fraser University showed her world-class abilities by leaving the rest of the field to sort out second place from the gun. Her “slow” time of 17:41 brought her across the finish nearly a minute and a half ahead of the next finisher. Northwest College won the Region I title with an impressive 29 points, having all five scorers in the top 10. The Evergreen women had their best finish ever at these championships, placing 8^th in the Region and 5^th in the Cascade Conference. Candy Owens finished 31^st overall to lead the Geoducks. Overall, the Evergreen squad didn’t seem to be at the top of their game. Their individual finishes were spread out further than hoped. Despite this, the meet capped off a season that saw a lot of improvement in the young team.

Both Women’s and Men’s races had very deep fields competing for the coveted top three team places that would earn a squad a trip to Nationals. Eastern Oregon University decided early to leave nothing to chance and put four runners in the top five, winning the meet with 25 points. An EOU athlete also earned himself an individual title. Brian Crowl averaged an impressive 5:00 per mile pace in the soup, pulling away in the second mile to win in 25:00 on the 5 mile (8k) course. It was a challenging day for the Evergreen men. Senior Captain, and the number one runner for the Geoducks, Keith Darrock went into the race with a lower back injury that had re-surfaced two weeks out from this meet. He gave it the college try but cramped badly early on and was out of the race by halfway. His absence left a crucial hole in the Evergreen squad. The mostly freshman squad responded well, but finished disappointingly lower than hoped in the team standings. Freshman Josh Klimek was the top Geoduck in 38^th place. A special mention should be made of our 47 year old team member Pat Talmadge who has battled knee problems not only this season, but for years. The slippery conditions aggravated his old friends and added an extra burden to his responsibility as the final scorer for Evergreen. Although his race was far from his best this season, Pat kept the Geoducks afloat. Way to go Geoducks!

Women’s Results Other Evergreen Finishers Shawn Olson 47^th 21:39 Clara Householder 58^th 22:45 Emily Preston 63^rd 23:57 Shannon Daniels 66^th 24:32 Drew Gaede 69^th 25:07 Lacy Kilty 73^rd 26:35 Region I Championships Team Results *Bold indicates qualifying teams for the NAIA National Championships in Kenosha, WI 1. Northwest 29 2. Lewis-Clark State 67 3. Eastern Oregon 78 4. Simon Fraser 90 5. British Columbia 124 6. Southern Oregon 154 7. Oregon Tech 210 8. Evergreen 231 9. Warner Pacific 244 10. Cascade College 250

Men’s Results Other Evergreen Finishers Nathan Chambers 52^nd 29:32 John Each 59^th 30:13 Kent Uglick 62^nd 30:33 Pat Talmadge 71^st 32:31 Micah McDaniels 76^th 35:16 1. Eastern Oregon 25 2. British Columbia 55 3. Warner Pacific 102 4. Simon Fraser 122 5. Lewis-Clark St. 124 6. Southern Oregon 125 7. Oregon Tech 174 8. Evergreen 240 9. Cascade College 243