Evergreen State senior Alauna Carstens won the women's 6-kilometer race outright at the George Oja Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 17, finishing in 20:38.5.
Carstens led from the opening kilometer and won by 14.7 seconds over George Fox University's Breanna Schmitt at Oak Knoll Golf Course. The meet, hosted by Linfield University, drew 320 women's runners and 401 men's runners, according to ThurstonTalk.
On the men's side, senior Max Baeder broke his own school record in the 8-kilometer race, crossing in 24:21.6. That shaved 20 seconds off his previous mark. Baeder placed 22nd in a field of 401.
"She dropped the field very early on within the first 1k and never looked back," assistant cross country and track and field coach Katie Burnett told ThurstonTalk about Carstens.
Burnett also praised Baeder, telling ThurstonTalk he ran a consistent race with a strong finish to lower the school record by 20 seconds. Senior Josh Beam finished 78th in 25:22.6, moving into third on the Geoducks' all-time list. The men's top five set a program record for fastest combined time.
The women's squad posted several all-time marks of its own. Junior Dani Buttrell clocked 22:54.0 for 87th place, climbing to third on Evergreen's all-time 6K list. Senior Madison Palek ran 23:48.2 for 127th, entering the program's top 10. Junior Soleil Bianchi (24:04.1) and sophomore Sylvie Biesack (24:46.2) rounded out the Geoducks' scorers.
Carstens' Oct. 17 win follows a season-opening victory at the PLU Invitational on Sept. 19, where she broke her own course record with a time of 20:50.9 and won by 19.5 seconds. Head coach Joel Pearson called that performance "the start we wanted and needed" after the Sept. 19 meet, as reported by ThurstonTalk. Baeder has improved steadily as well, dropping from 25:15.4 at PLU to his record 24:21.6 at the Oja meet.
In team standings, Evergreen's women placed 12th out of 29 teams. The men finished 20th of 33. Eastern Washington won the women's team title, and the University of Portland took the men's.
The Geoducks head to the Cascade Collegiate Conference Cross Country Championships on Friday, Nov. 6, in Lewiston, Idaho. The men's 8K starts at 11 a.m. PST, with the women's 6K at noon PST.
