SFU Women Perfect Score, Rakestraw Third Overall for ESC

W F West won the meet with 21 points, Tumwater and River Ridge High Schools followed respectively

Salem-News.com Sports

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Simon Fraser has a long history of winning team titles at the Pete Steilberg Cross Country Classic and were back on top this year after both their men and women's teams finished 2nd in '08.

Today the women scored a perfect 15 points, snagging the top 7 spots in the 5k race. The top Geoduck performance at the meet was by Senior Brian Rakestraw (Woodinville, WA) who finished third overall in 25:56.83.

The men's 8k, which was the first of the college races, saw Rakestraw up front with eventual winner Kevin Friesen (SFU) in the early miles. Friesen eventually pulled ahead to distance Rakestraw who was caught by Ryan Brockerville of SFU and Kyle Van Santen of St. Martin's with just over a mile remaining. Friesen held a comfortable lead to finish in 25:42. It was a three-way battle for the runner up position with Brockerville 2nd, Rakestraw 3rd and Van Santen 4th. Rakestraw, who competed at the NAIA National Championships in '08, had a 14 second improvement over his '08 time. '08's course did not have the steep hill included in the race that the men attacked twice today.

Team scores had SFU up front with 21 points, SMU followed with 49 points, ESC third (85) and Seattle Pacific finished fourth with 87 points.

In women's competiton, Simon Fraser (NAIA #4) showed their dominance early with a huge pack up front in the first kilometer of the 5k race. Jessica Smith broke away from her teammates for good halfway and went on to win by 18 seconds over Holly Stockall. Smith averaged a 5:54 pace over the challenging course to post a time of 18:20.43.

Britta Peterson (SO, Port Orchard, WA) was the top Evergreen finisher in 13th place with a time of 20:41. The women's team finished fourth overall with 99 points. The runner up was St. Martin's with 52 points followed by Seattle Pacific who scored 89 points.

Evergreen will next head south to Salem, Oregon next week for the Willamette University Invitational on Saturday.

The meet also hosted three high school teams who were pre-viewing the District IV Championships course.

In the girls 5k race, WF West (Chehalis) took the team title with a perfect 15 points. Their own Jara Lindsay (SR) took the overall title in a time of 22:33.28 and won by 10 seconds over River Ridge's Leah Bolon.

Dakota Parker (JR) directed the outcome of the boys 5k race early on to help WF West sweep both team titles. He ran an outstanding 16:02.42 and demonstrated why he is one of top runners in the state.

W F West won the meet with 21 points, Tumwater and River Ridge High Schools followed respectively.

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