YAKIMA, Wash. – It was first-place sweep for the Spartans at Central Washington University's cross country invitational, with Joanna Williams (Campbell River, B.C.) and Nick Colyn (Langley, B.C.) each winning Saturday afternoon at the Apple Ridge Run Cross Country Course.

In a field which featured NCAA runners, including from Central Washington, Western Washington, Simon Fraser and Saint Martin's, Colyn and Williams beat all comers to open the 2019 cross country season.

On the women's side, Williams finished first with a time of 14:51 over four kilometres. She was followed by Mikaela Smart (Maple Ridge, B.C.), while fellow Spartan Jouen Chang (Langley, B.C.), Christina Sevsek (Surrey, B.C.), Jennifer Kits (Burnaby, B.C.), Julie Sevsek (Surrey, B.C.), Maddie Gibson (Port Coquitlam, B.C.), Cassidy Hutchison (Abbotsford, B.C.), Rachel Ward (Nanaimo, B.C) and Natalia Wazny (Calgary, Alta.), rounded out the female racers.  

On the men's side, Colyn crossed the line in first with a time of 18:39 over the six-kilometre race. He was joined in the race by second-year Nathanael Fehringer (Meridian, Idaho), and first-years Connor Byrne (Delta, B.C.), Kaelan House (Surrey, B.C.), Levi Osterwalder (Camrose, Alta), and Josh Woolgar (Ladner, B.C.).

Spartans Results at the CWU cross country invitational

MEN
1^st– Nick Colyn – 18:39.41

30^th– Josh Woolgar – 20:29.59

40^th– Levi Osterwalder – 20:57.64

50^th– Kaelan House – 22:06.51

53^rd– Nathanael Fehringer – 22:34.86

56^th– Connor Byrne – 23:28.48

WOMEN
1^st– Joanna Williams – 14:51.63

2^nd– Mikaela Smart – 15:10.44

7^th– Jouen Chang – 15:30.30

8^th– Jennifer Kits (Shannon) – 15:31.27

9^th– Cassidy Hutchison – 15:32.12

13^th– Christina Sevsek – 15:37.81

26^th– Julie Sevsek – 16:07.96

27^th– Natalia Wazny – 16:16.30

34^th– Rachel Ward – 16:49.51

35^th– Maddie Gibson – 16:51.09

QUOTABLE
Shane Wiebe – TWU Director and Head Coach – Track & Field and Cross Country
"Great start to the year, and I just can't say enough about the women's race. Joanna (Williams) was phenomenal. She came to me earlier in the season and said 'this is going to be a different year' and she proved that today. You could just tell she was locked in and focused, running both hard and relaxed. Same with Mikaela (Smart) as she also looked really great today. Nick (Colyn) is obviously our strongest runner and proved that in spades today. Right from the start straight to the finish he looked really strong and comfortable out there."

On First-Year Runners
"I was also really pleased with our freshman, who all had a good meet today. This was a good first taste of what collegiate competition is like, and they stepped up to the challenge. Our men's team is very young, everyone had a really strong day. On top of that we had great team spirit from our athletes, lots of encouragement throughout the course so all in all a great start to the season."

Kathy Andrews – TWU Assistant Coach – Cross Country and Middle Distance
"We had a great first season race today. Our three fifth-years did amazing, coming away with two firsts and one second-place finish. Our girls really stood out today too, and are going to be a force both in Canada West and U SPORTS. As for our rookies I'm really proud of them, getting their first taste of a collegiate race with more to come."

NEXT UP
The Spartans will send a group to the Vikes Invitational in Victoria Sept. 28.

-TW-