SALEM, Ore. -- The Evergreen State College athlete Alauna Carstens (Sr.) earned third place in the women's 5-kilometer race at the 51st Annual Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 3. Max Baeder (Sr.) from Evergreen took 30th place in the men's 8-kilometer race. The cross country meet was held at Bush's Pasture Park.

Carstens registered a time of 17:08.3 to grab third place, trailing only Latham West from the University of Portland (NCAA DI) and Isabel Perez-Zoghbi from Cal Poly Humboldt (NCAA DII). Evergreen competes in the NAIA. 

West took first place in the women's race in 16:35.1. Perez-Zoghbi was second in 16:59.3. After Carstens crossed the finish line in third place, Jane Roloff from the University of Portland was fourth in 17:19.9, and Kylee Quinton from College of Idaho was fifth at 17:25.6. A total of 236 athletes completed the women's race.

Dani Buttrell (Jr.) of Evergreen placed 96th in the women's race with a time of 19:24.2. Madison Palek (Sr.) was 132nd for the Geoducks in 20:01.9. Soleil Bianchi (Jr.) took 148th place and registered a time of 20:21.4. Haley Huber finished the race in 22:09.1.

The Geoducks earned 13th place out of 25 teams in the women's race. University of Hawaii won the women's team title with a score of 65 (6-9-13-14-23). The University of Portland was second with a score of 70. College of Idaho placed third at 86, and Fresno State University placed fourth at 103. University of Nevada was fifth at 151.

Baeder was Evergreen's top finisher in the men's 8-kilometer race. He was 30th with a time of 24:56.6. Other scorers for Evergreen were Josh Beam (Sr.), Jackson Rye (Sr.), Nathaniel Sanchez (So.), and Evan Williams (Sr.). Beam placed 93d in 26:02.1. Rye was 127th with a time of 26:31.9. Sanches completed the race in 27:43.2, and Williams was timed at 28:04.9.

The men's race included 288 athletes. Austin Key from the University of Nevada won the race in 23:59.1. Mason Weisgerber of Southern Oregon University was second at 24:11.3, just in front of unattached runner Kgadi Monyebodi, who was third in 24:11.5. Carter Stedman from SOU was fourth at 24:12.8, and Jack Gladfelter of Corban University was fifth at 24:15.8.

Evergreen finished the men's race in 15th place in the team standings out of 23 teams. University of Portland achieved the men's team title with a score of 46 (6-7-10-11-12). University of Nevada was second at 60, with Southern Oregon in third at 131. College of Idaho placed fourth at 132, and Seattle University was fifth at 169.

The Geoducks will compete at the George Oja Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 17 at the Oak Knoll Golf Course near Salem, Oregon. The meet, hosted by Linfield University, is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. PDT.