VANCOUVER, Wash. - Clark College Cross Country opened the season at the University of Puget Sound Invitational on Saturday, August 31st. It was a hot day as the athletes zig-zagged through the open field at  Ft. Steilacoom Park. When it was all said and done, the Penguin men finished fourth and the women second out of a nine team field that included four, four-year universities.   

The men took to the course first and were led by Branden Chou who finished 10th overall in a time of 16:31. Sophomore Timmy Bradshaw also broke the seventeen minute barrier with a time of 16:53 in 16th place. Freshman Cain Duncan had a solid debut for the Penguins with a time of 17:33 and came through the line in 28th place. The sophomore duo of Dylan Stevenson and Ryan Koenninger completed the course in 33rd and 35th respectively while running under 18 minutes. Elijah Cisneros, Mason Ball and Hayden Davis rounded out the Penguin top 8 with solid performances. Coach Owen Frasier was really happy with the men's showing. "This was a great first meet for our guys. I think they did an awesome job of competing through the heat and not over reaching. They all had realistic goals for the race and learned a lot that will help them going forward. We always know what we're going to get from Branden and Timmy. They're racing veterans and we can always count on them to lead the men. We definitely need to bring along our second group if we want to reach our goals this season."

The women's race followed and immediately saw freshman Mia Beightol and sophomore Dani Buttrell move to the front. The two ran side by side for most of the race while taking on challengers throughout before finally pulling away with about a mile to go.  Beightol eventually created a little separation from Buttrell and wound up winning the race in a time of 19:53. Buttrell still managed to finish second in the race with an impressive time of 20:06. Freshman Kennedy Taylor followed up her awesome time trial performance with an eighth place finish in a time of 21:14 in her first ever 5K. Also making a statement in her 5K debut was Sadie Schierscher. Sadie just missed the top 10, finishing 11th, but still clocked a great time of 21:22. The Sophomore duo of Soleil Bianchi (running unattached) and Lauren Filipczak were both top 20 and broke 22 minutes. Rounding out the top seven while also finishing top 20 in a time of 21:54 was Vaughn Shimko. Most improved honor goes to Brandi Damos, who improved from 11th at the team time trial to 8th place at UPS. Coach Frasier was very complimentary of the women's team, starting with the tandem up top. "Obviously there's nothing better than having Mia win the race. I don't know when the last time a Penguin woman won an invite. Even Sydnee Boothby, with all her success last year, didn't win a non NWAC event last season. The best part is, she made it look really easy. Dani did a phenomenal job of pushing Mia and together they made some surges to pull away from the field." The second pack of Penguins also earned some praise from Frasier. "How about Kennedy Taylor and Sadie Schierscher? For them to run that well in their first 5K was incredible. They are only going to keep getting better, so for that to be the start- wow! Finally, the depth we have is going to be so huge. Vaughn, Soleil and Lauren will all be capable of running well on any given day and allow us to push and take risks while knowing we've got lots of athletes who can run fast." 

Both teams will have the weekend off before returning to action at Western Oregon University next Friday at Ash Creek. 

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