COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. -- In the first competition of the year featuring the standard distances of women's 5K and men's 8K, the Multnomah University Lions cross country teams had a tremendous showing.  They competed against Cascade Conference foes Bushnell University and Corban University as well as Umpqua Community College.

The women once again kicked off things with a bang at 10am finishing a close 2^nd overall as a team only two points behind host Bushnell.  Shiloh Mounce led the way by winning the race of 23 runners in 18:14, a full minute ahead of second place finisher Rebecca Kuskie of Bushnell.  Not to be left alone up front, Anais Mills and Makenna Stock finished 3^rd and 4^th covering the 5000m course in 19:27 and 19:47, respectively.  It was a big 5K PR (personal record) for Stock.  Also getting a lifetime best was freshman DeAsia Wosachlo coming in 14^th at 22:43.  Kiara Anctil rounded out the top 5 in 22^nd in 26:31. 

"I was very impressed by the women today with their commitment to controlling their races and stepping up against our rivals," remarks Head Coach Corey Mehl. "It was awesome to see Shiloh's aggression and never looking back right from the start.  The dynamic duo of Anais and Makenna showed up again today as they picked off runners right from the start.  Three out of the top four is pretty cool!  Very excited to see continued improvement from DeAsia and Kiara as well."

The men finished 3^rd of the four teams taking down Umpqua in the 25 man race.  They had an impressive one to five gap of just 2:26 between them.  Cade Kooch and Izak Garza battled hard as Kooch took 5^th overall in 28:19 while Izak Garza was 10^th at 29:40.  Caden Lowman and Nate Parisi worked really well as a duo on the course today and went 15^th-16^th, respectively.  Freshman Ben Tevs made his debut finishing a solid 18^th overall.  Tim Kretschmer, back from an injury the past few weeks, finished out the top 6 in 25^th place.  

Head Coach Corey Mehl said, "It is so tough to adjust to the men's race at the collegiate level.  Cade competed in only his 2^nd ever 8K so it was super exciting to see him battle for 3^rd place and taking 5th.  I just love seeing Izak's improvement this year and it is super rewarding to see him get a top 10 finish.  It was also nice to see Caden have a good bounce back effort today as he continues to piece together this race.  Finally, hats off to Nate, Ben and Tim who all competed in their first 8K.  Always nice to get the first one out of the way."

BUSHNELL INVITE RESULTS 

UP NEXT:
MU has a quick turnaround competing next Friday, September 24 at the Mike Johnson Classic down in Monmouth hosted by Western Oregon University.  The women get to run the NCAA distance of 6K at 5:00p followed by the men's standard 8K at 5:45p.