Tigers Test Themselves against Region’s Best

SEATTLE, Wash. (Sept. 19, 2009) - Eric Kleinasser finished 5th in the Sundodger Invitational held on the campus of the University of Washington.  But the men weren't the only one's running in Seattle, as the women took a team up there as well, led by Phoebe Merritt who finished 7th in her first ever 6K event.  This was a busy weekend as both the men and the women were split up, with half going to Seattle, and the other half staying closer to home to compete in the UC Riverside invitational, with Mario Castillo leading the way for the men as their top finisher, and Denali Halsey pacing the women in the open division of the event.  Both fields were stacked with some of the best long distance runners on the west coast.

Kleinsasser was able to finish among the top five, in a field of over two hundred, by running a personal best of 24:55 in the 8K event.   But Merritt would not be outdone, as her time in the 6K event, would have placed her 4^th in last year's Western Regional Meet.   Charlie Sauter (26:59.6) also did well for the men, coming in second behind Kleinasser for Oxy, as did Sadie Mohler for the women.  Mohler (22:58.7) had a great run as she placed in the top thirty, in a field that matched the men, with over two hundred participants.

At the UCR invitational it was Castillo who led the way for the Oxy men, followed by Thomas Cahuzac, who finished near the top half of the field.  Halsey (20:09.0) led a cluster of finishes at the event, as right on her heels were Deanna Dupuy (20:16.3) and Sally Landefeld (20:28.4), separated by a mere nineteen seconds.

Overall, though, the strength of the field at the Sundodger Invitational would be tough to compete against as a team.  With the Oxy men finishing thirteenth in the event, while the women cracked the top ten, with an eighth place finish.  The other half of the squad faced just a tough a challenge, as the men finished in the third tier of the event, while the women matched their teammates in Seattle with a strong showing to finish eighth.   

British Columbia took home the men's title in Seattle, while the women's title was taken by Alaska Anchorage.  In Riverside, BYU took home the title in the men's division while Pepperdine stole the show for the women, finishing almost four minutes ahead of the second place finishers.

Occidental will be back on the course in two weeks, as the travel to Pomona Pitzer for the west Region Preview event on Saturday, October 3^rd.  First stride will be at 9am.