Evergreen State cross country runners set records in Gator Invitational 

The Evergreen State College cross country teams competed again in the Green River Gator Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 14, at Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood, WA, as part of this season’s circuit in the Cascade Collegiate Conference. 

Max Baeder and Mara Schwenneker led the men’s and women’s Geoducks teams, as both set school and personal records in the men’s 6k run and women’s 4k run, respectively. The men’s team finished 12th out of 14 participating schools, including those from the NCAA DI and DII, while the women’s team did not field a full roster to get a crack at the team rankings. 

Schwenneker finished the 4k race with a personal record time of 16:18.7, or a pace of around 4:09/km, leading the pack for the Mollusks in the competition while finishing 83rd overall. Joining her in repping Evergreen were Maddie Morgan, who finished at 19:30.4, Abigail Strickland, who timed 20:45.8, and Nadya Miller, who ran the course in 24:13.2. 

In the men’s 6k race, Max Baeder led the Geoducks after clocking in a personal and school record time of 18:44.9, or about 3:17/km, placing 47th overall out of 135 participants. The Evergreen XC men’s team in this event included 61st overall Jaydon Blackburn with a time of 19:06.3, Luis Esquivel, finishing in 20:25.6, Osvaldo Calderon at 20:39.1, Harlan Estrada clocking in at 21:17, and Atticus Lauderdale at 21:44.6.  

The Geoducks men’s team had a total team score of 280, putting them 12th out of 14 schools in the competition. 

“The team ran well today. This is my first meet with the team and I’m looking forward to more,” said Evergreen assistant cross country coach Josh Beam when asked his reaction to the team’s performances. 

The University of Portland dominated both courses, winning the team title for the men’s and women’s competitions while also placing the individual winners for both. The Pilots included four of the first five finishers in the women’s 4k, with Juliette Forstrom leading everyone after registering a time of 13:06.1.  

The Pilots also swept the first five places in the men’s 6k race, with Nate Lantz reaching the finish line first, running the course in 17:19.9. 

Evergreen’s cross country teams next ran in the Cascade Collegiate Conference Preview on Friday, Sept. 20, at the Rose City Golf Club in Portland, OR.