SPRINGFIELD, Ore. - Gonzaga University's men's and women's cross country teams had a dress rehearsal Saturday at the Bill Dellinger Invitational, and for the most part director of cross country and head men's coach Pat Tyson and head women's coach Patty Ley liked what they saw.
The Bulldog men finished fifth with 121 points. Host University of Oregon won the men's race with 32 points followed by Boise State University 39, and the University of Washington and University of Portland tied for third with 87 points each.
The Zag women placed seventh with 186 points, 11 behind the University of Idaho and 23 behind Wichita State University. Washington won the meet with 30 points followed by Oregon with 52, Boise State 63 and Portland 81.
Willie Milam turned in the best race of the day for the Bulldogs, finishing eighth overall for the men in 24:23 for the 8K Springfield Country Club course. Aaron Nelson of Washington won the meet in 23:55.
"It was a very good day for Willie Milam to make the top 10 and be able to stand on the awards stand and represent Gonzaga," Tyson said. "He finished in a single digit (seventh in the team scoring) and we talked about single digits, helping our team. It was exciting in that he was only eight seconds behind Trevor Dunbar in third place and six seconds behind Parker Stinson, Oregon's number two runner."
Dunbar was a two-time cross country All-American at Portland prior to transferring to Oregon, where he was a two-time All-American on the track last spring.
Lauren Bergam was the top finisher for the Bulldog women, placing 24th overall in 17:39 for the 5K women's race.
Ley had already made the decision Friday to not run Maggie Jones who wasn't feeling well, but Bergam woke up Saturday morning "feeling pretty rotten," according to Ley.
"Lauren ran really well, that was a very big plus. She ran very good race," Ley said. "We had a couple of others not feeling well. It wasn't the greatest day overall in terms of how they were feeling, but they stepped up in terms of the way they raced. We were very aggressive."
Ley said the Zags are taking some nice steps.
"We were eleven points back of Idaho so we're a little bit better with them this time around. It was a great field and a much, much deeper field than last year. We raced overall as a team better, focusing on racing other people. We're making a nice step forward there," Ley said.
The women did welcome back Lara Tuthill who has been sidelined this fall, and Ley was just fine with what Tuthill gave.
"Lara opened up and as figured had a decent 3K and struggled the last few. But that was okay," Ley said. "We got a great race from Taylor (Cherry) and Amelia (Evans) is running solidly. The one that stepped back up to what we thought she could run was Krista Beyer. It was a very nice race for her."
Cherry was 45th in 18:07 and Evans 49th in 18:14. Beyer crossed the line in 73rd in 18:48.
"We're growing and learning how to compete. We have six sophomores trying to figure it out and have done a pretty nice job. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the day and we can always be better," Ley said.
Tyson was also pleased with the effort.
"Ten of our 12 guys had never run in competition like this before. It wasn't a bad day, but not a perfect day," Tyson said. "We went out aggressive and at the mile we were probably second behind Oregon. Portland didn't run all of their "A" guys. Nick (Roche) was in top five early and until the mid or latter part with maybe a mile to go. It was a good one-two for us.
"Troy (Fraley) went out a little aggressive and faded a little, but I know Troy is capable of being up there with Roche. (Kyle) Branch had a cold all week and ran respectful to help the team," Tyson noted.
Branch was Gonzaga's third runner in 42nd in 25:15.
"We want more; we have to be better, but it was a decent dress rehearsal," Tyson said. "We're hoping to get one of our wild cards back in time for the West Coast Conference meet in a month. Colin O'Neil is healthy or maybe Ned Fischer can get it done," Tyson said.
Arguable Gonzaga's two best runners, senior Brent Felnagle and sophomore Conor McCandless, have been ruled out for the WCC meet. They have been sidelined all fall with injuries and will redshirt according to Tyson.
"We need somebody to step up. I told the team I know today was amazing and a big eye opener. This is the way it will be at the WCCs and the regional in Sacramento. You have to believe in what you do and you can't be afraid of it. That's what it's like in our sport." Tyson said.
The final tune-up, and the final chance to make one of the nine spots each for the men and women traveling to the WCC Championship, will be Oct. 19 at the Inland Northwest Classic at Hells Gate Park in Lewiston, Idaho.
