Monmouth, OR - For the first time since 2019, the Trojan cross country teams raced in September. The start of the 2020 season was delayed due to COVID-19 forcing the abbreviated season to push its start date into February of 2021. Even then, the first scheduled meet was postponed due to heavy snow fall, demonstrating why cross country running is not a winter sport in the pacific northwest. The "2020" season concluded with a final meet among north region schools (Whatcom, Edmonds, Olympic, Green River, Pierce, and Everett) on March 24th, and those student-athlete participants promptly shifted gears into track mode, preparing for a meet just 14 days later.
The first race opportunity for the Trojans came by invitation from NCAA Division II Western Oregon University, down in Monmouth, OR at the Ash Creek Invitational. The women raced first in a 4k, 1k shorter than the typical 5k race for collegiate women, but a good distance for a first meet of the season. The entire women's team was not prepared for this early meet, but two Trojans did race and posted finishing times. Sophomore, Tracey Hatch was the top EvCC finisher, placing 55th with a time of 16:32.0. Freshman Dylan Dimond out of Kennewick, WA was not far behind posting a time of 16:49.9 in her first career collegiate race. Both women raced well, finishing ahead of numerous 4-year runners. Hatch finished 11th among all community college runners.
The men's race followed at a distance of 6 kilometers, again shorter than normal in this early season race (typically 8k's). Freshman Josiah Nobles finished first for the Trojans posting a time of 20.11.6, 43rd overall, and 7th among all community college runners. Another freshman, Adolfo De Robles was not far behind at 48th overall (9th in the NWAC), followed by redshirt freshman Ryan Barene at 54th overall (13th in the NWAC). Rounding out the team scoring points for Everett were two more true freshman in Elijah Roberts and Alec Dimick who finished 66th and 88th respectively. Of the 10 participating schools which included NCAA DII's Westeron Oregon and Seattle Pacific, and NCAA DIII's George Fox, Willamette, and Linfield, Everett finished 7th overall and 2nd among NWAC schools beating out Clark College, Southwestern Oregon CC and Umpqua CC.
Everett looks to expand the roster of available particpants for the next meet of the season, planned for September 25th at the Ken Garland Classic hosted by Saint Martin's University in Lacey, WA.