LACEY, Wash. – Running in her first cross country race of 2011, senior Karissa Carlson (Pateros, Wash./Pateros HS) put together a great initial effort, taking eighth at the Saint Martin’s Invitational on Saturday morning in Lacey, Wash. The race was dominated on both the men’s and women’s sides by University of Victoria as the Vikes swept the individual and team titles.
Carlson, who finished the 6000m course in 23:26, found herself running alone most of the race and it showed at the finish as she was 17 seconds behind and 15 seconds ahead of her nearest competitors respectively. Victoria swept the top six spots in the race while Emily McMahon of Spirit of Oregon was the only other runner to finish ahead of Carlson.
Freshman Savy Rigney (Lake Arrowhead, Calif./Rim of the World HS) took 18th in the race, finishing with a time of 25:33. Fellow freshman Allison Schneider (Longview, Wash./R.A. Long HS) was the only other Geoduck woman to run, taking 43rd overall with a time of 32:29.00.
On the men’s side, Evergreen was led by freshman Sean LaBelle (Bainbridge Island, Wash./Bainbridge HS), who took 39th with a time of 31:01.30. Sophomore John Barker was about 30 second behind, finishing 41st with a time of 31:34.98. Senior Clint Posey (Lynnwood, Wash./Meadowdale HS) finished 45th with a time of 32:14.11 while freshman Drew Hawley (SeaTac, Wash./Mt. Rainier HS) rounded out the Geoduck harriers with a time of 36:23.90 to take 59th overall.
Evergreen heads down to Salem, Ore. next week to run in the Charles Bowles Invitational, hosted by Willamette University.
