Salem, Ore. – For the second time in as many races, the UBC women topped the team competition, winning the Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational 5-kilometres Gold Race, Saturday Oct. 1, in Salem, Ore.

The women, currently ranked sixth in the NAIA, scored 69 points, beating five ranked NAIA schools, including two schools ahead in the rankings. Northwest Christian (Ore.), ranked fifth, was second with 82 points, and Biola (Calif.), ranked third, placed third with 96 points. Concordia (Ore.), who are ninth in the NAIA, placed fourth (129 points), and Lewis and Clark State (Ida.), ranked 19^th, scored 204 points for fifth, narrowly beating Southern Oregon, ranked 15^th, who scored 205 points to place sixth overall.

Depth was key to the women’s victory, as only 15-seconds separated the first from fifth scorers. Micha Gutmanis used a strong finish to place 12^th in 18:21, just ahead of teammate Maria Bernard, 14^th in 18:22. Sarah Reimer was right behind, placing 20^th in 18:27, followed by Nelly Amenyogbe, 24^th in 18:33, and Jackie Regan, 28^th in 18:36. Also factoring into the scoring were Zanny Venner, 39^th in 18:49, and Catherine Farish, 54^th in 19:04.

The men, ranked fourth in the NAIA, had an off day, finishing ninth as a team in the 8-kilometres Gold Race with 249 points.

Jack Williams led the men, coming 51^st in 25:38. Next was Justin Kent, 60^th in 25:52, followed closely by Jordan Smith, 62^nd in 25:55, and Tim Huebsch, also ducking under 26-minutes with his 66^th place effort of 25:59. Matt Galea rounded out the scorers at 26:13.

Full results are available here: http://livestats.willamette.edu/live/xc/

The ‘Birds will run next at the Western Washington University Cross Country Classic – 6,000-metres for the women and 10,000-metres for the men – on Saturday, Oct. 8, in Bellingham, Wash.