Westmont women run strong race at UC Riverside

Chrissa Trudelle led the Westmont women’s cross country team to a 14th place finish at the UC Riverside Invitational. The Warriors finished second among NAIA teams with Cal State San Marcos claiming eighth place and Concordia finishing 15th.
 
“The women ran well,” said a pleased head coach, Russell Smelley, “They beat all of their Golden State Athletic Conference opponents and had a team spread under one minute which was our goal. Hopefully, they ran well enough to get ranked.”
 
Trudelle finished in 57th place, completing the 5-kilometer course in a time of 18.11.9
 
“Chrissa ran her usual, patient race; keeping it under control and passing people the last two-thirds of the race. She passed a lot of people to move up.”
 
Finishing second for the Warriors was Amber Collier who posted a time of 18:15.5.
 
“As a freshman, Amber went out way too fast, but she didn’t collapse,” reported Smelley. “She held on and finished right behind Chrissa.”
 
Finishing third for the Warriors was junior transfer Angie Gonzales who posted a time of 18:49.6. Junior Kate Stuart was close behind with a time of 18:54.9 and sophomore Danica Rosendale covered the 5k distance in a time of 18:57.5
 
“It is a good fast course,” said Smelley. “It is dirt with a lot of turns and a little bit of a hill. It is a very runner friendly course.”
 
The men’s team came in 15th place out of 25 teams, finishing last among GSAC and NAIA schools.
 
“We started out the day without two of our top four runners — Eric Williams and Garrison Gourdeau,” noted Smelley. “The men were definitely outrun today by a good and motivated Master’s team and a focused California Baptist team that wanted to beat us. I believe we did everything we could do today.”
 
Sophomore Jake Jeanson was the Warriors’ top finisher in 58th place, posting a time of 25:22.5. Senior Jacob Goodin crossed the line as Westmont’s second runner in a time of 25:46.5.
 
“Jake ran fine coming of a little bit of an injury,” said Smelley. “I thought Paul Anderson (26:39.4), in his first big collegiate race, ran superbly, without really knowing how fast he can go. Matt Day (26:11.6) continues to be consistent and I see him moving up as the season goes on.”
 
Next Saturday, the Warriors will host the 30th annual Westmont Invitational with the first race beginning at 9:30 a.m.