Lakewood, WA - The Trojans got another opportunity to compete against top tier talent in the pacific northwest at Gator Cross, a first year meet hosted by fellow NWAC school Green River College. Despite rainy conditions across much of the puget sound area, the weather at Steilacoom Park was near perfect for a race with cool temperatures and little to no percipitation. The women raced first in another 4k which gave a good measure for improvement from the previous meet two weeks earlier. All five women PR'd for the Trojans, with Teagan Pentz leading the squad for the second straight race. She PR'd by nearly 30 seconds, and was closely followed by teammate Taya Kilgore who PR'd by 44.8 seconds. Amelia Koon was the third Trojan to finish who edged out a competitor from Portland State University by 17 seconds. She also PR'd by 1:02. Finishing out the team scoring was Ariel Rodriguez Garcia who PR'd by a team leading 1:56 and Maria Isaza Marin at 1:12. EvCC was the only NWAC school to post a team score at the meet.
Like the women's race, the men's race was a duplicate distance from the previous meet, a 6k with an opportunity for personal records. Anthony Long finished first for the Trojans in a talented field of runners. He would have scored points for five of the four year schools including NCAA Division I Portland State. He ran a solid time of 19:13, setting a new PR at the 6k distance by 52 seconds. Charlie Roberts was the next to cross the finish line, and he did so in the top 100 with a PR by 23 seconds. Andrew Schmitz was not far behind and had a huge two minute PR. Isaiah Buckley did not have the race he wanted, but finished ahead of seven NWAC opponents and still PR'd by 17 seconds. Jacob Doughty finished the team scoring, allowing EvCC to edge out north region rival Olympic College by 54 points. He too PR'd by 1:30, meaning that all 10 EvCC athletes improved their times from two weeks ago.
Everett will look to carry the momentum into next weekend at the PLU invitational in Tacoma. The weather once again looks favorable and will give the Trojans a first look at increased distances, a 6k for the women and an 8k for the men. The women will race at 11:10am followed by the men at 11:45am.