EvCC women win NWAACC cross country championship
Published 11:36 pm Saturday, November 14, 2009
The Everett Community College women’s cross country team won the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges championship on Saturday at Lewisville Park in Battle Ground.
Everett finished with a total of 23 points for its first cross country championship since the school started the program in 2007, the fifth lowest team score since 1977, and had the top three finishers in the race.
Shawna Schooley finished first at 18 minutes, 23 seconds, Valerie Massie was second at 18:40, and Kelsey Loomans took third at 18:49. All three broke the previous course record of 18:52.
“The women’s race was fantastic,” Everett head coach Matt Koenigs said, noting that it will be the first championship banner hung in the new gymnasium. “They ran just out of their minds, they took it out hard from the start and just continued to increase the lead. It was pretty dominant.”
Spokane Community College finished second with 55 points, and Lane Community College was third with 76 points.
Everett finished with five of the top ten positions, as Kelly Talkington (19:22) finished eighth and Amanda Faggard (19:42) finished ninth.
In the men’s race, Everett’s top two finishers — Yon Yilma (25:54) and Josh Alexander (26:11) — finished eighth and ninth, respectively. Spokane Community College won its ninth consecutive championship with a total of 24 points. Everett totalled three top -ten slots with Seth Pierson finishing tenth at 26:28. Everett finished second overall, with 52 points, and Lane CC finished third with 95 points.
“Spokane just ran lights out,” Koenigs said. “Second place is the best finish for our men.”
The men’s winner was Lane’s Cesar Perez at 25:25, with Spokane’s Anthony Brown (25:29) and Lane’s Travis Stevens (25:30) rounding out the top three. Spokane finished with five runners in the top ten.
Koenigs and Spokane head coach Sean McLachlan were awarded as Co-Coaches of the Year, with Koenigs noting that without the help of assistant coach Shelby Schenek Everett’s team would not be the same.
