Mark French Sets School Record to Lead Owls to Sweep in XC Opener
Oregon Tech Athletics
November 06, 2020
FINAL RESULTS
COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. –
Mark French (Pictured by Bushnell Athletics) set a school record and won the 6K (18:35.2); the OIT men finished with 9 of the top 10 finishers in their heat while the Oregon Tech women had five runners finish in the top 10 as both teams captured the Bushnell Open title Friday at the Middlefield Golf Course.
French broke the record of 18:55 previously held by Jack Roberts in 2016 for 6k. After French, Tech's
Jonas Hartline was 3
rd (19:01.8),
Nick McMillen 4
th (19:21.5)
Chris Ramirez 5
th (19:21.6),
Joseph Wilkinson 6
th (19:27.2),
Brent Hunter 8
th (19:41.5), and
Ko Akabori 10
th (19:51.5). Tech's
Jacob Harvey was 12
th (19:56.3) followed by
Victor Rios 15
th (20:00.1) and
Dylan Woodward 16
th (20:07.4).
"The men had a good front pack and got out well the first mile around 4:50 to 5:03," said head coach
Jack Kegg. "They will need to gain some strength and carry that rhythm through the next three miles if they want to earn an invitation to the NAIA Nationals."
The Owls won the meet with a perfect score, owning the first five scoring slots for 15 points, Northwest University 2
nd (62 points), Corban 3
rd (78 points), Bushnell 4
th (82 points), followed by Multnomah in 5
th (136 points).
The OIT women were led by
Mia Smith 4
th overall (14:55.6),
Delani Dietrich 5th (14:58.2),
Hannah Mason 6
th (15:08.2), 8
th Faith Widman (15:12.3) and
Jade Hopkins 16
th (16:07.5). The final two runners for the Owls,
Kela Leamy (16:11.2) and
Shannon McKinzie ran very well finishing 17
th and 18
th respectively.
"The ladies ran well," added Kegg. "We will need to keep working hard and come back here in January prepared to race harder and closer together as a group."
The final standing showed the Owls in 1
st place (33 points), Corban 2
nd (68 points), Bushnell 3
rd (76 points), Northwest 4
th (80 points) followed by Warner Pacific (100 points).
The Bushnell Open was the only fall event for the Owls, who don't return to action until January 29 when they return to Cottage Grove for the Bushnell Invite again at the Middlefield Golf Course. The Owls will then host the Oregon Tech Invite March 12 and the CCC XC Championships on March 26, both events are scheduled at the
Running Y Ranch Resort.
