Ben Thistlewood

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - Maria Bernard won the Sundodger Invitational College Women's Open race
in her collegiate debut Saturday morning, leading the UBC Thunderbirds women's cross-country team to
victory in its opening race of the year.

The Calgary, Alberta native cruised through the six-kilometre course in West Seattle's Lincoln Park in 21:41.00, besting her nearest opponent by almost 20 seconds.
“I was very impressed with how Maria ran today,” said UBC cross country head coach Marek Jedrzejek. “To perform as well as she did in her first race at this level bodes well for the future.”

The UBC women dominated the field, totalling a mere 47 points for their team score. Whitman was second in the team battle with 110 points, and Western Washington third, with 141 points.

Behind Bernard, Micha Gutmanis had a great race, finishing not far back in seventh overall, at 22:26.58.

Next came a trio of 'Birds lead by Heather Slinn, 15th in 22:36.05, followed closely by Sara Reimer, 16th in 22:39.36, and Jackie Regan, 18th in 22:42.60. Zanny Venner finished sixth on the team, and 28th overall in 22:58.13, and rounding out the top seven was Amelie de Fenoyl, at 23:09.28, good for 36th.

“I'm very pleased with how our women ran today,” said Jedrzejek. “We averaged 40-seconds faster for our top five runners this year compared to last year. That's a remarkable improvement.”

This year the women averaged a speedy 22:25.12 for the six-kilometre course.

UBC's women's and men's cross-country teams have a weekend off racing before heading down to Salem, Oregon on Saturday, October 1 for the 37th Annual Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational, hosted by Willamette University.