The Umpqua Community College Cross Country teams competed in the Warner Pacific XC Classic at Lents Park in Portland, OR Saturday.

The men ran in the 8k at 9:00am followed by the women’s 5k at 9:45am. Running in waterlogged ground which quickly turned into mud, the RiverHawks men placed ninth out of eleven teams while the women finished in ninth of ten teams. “We didn’t come prepared for the mud,” UCC coach Alan King said. “We didn’t race in spikes and that’s my fault, next time we will be ready for conditions like this.” College of Idaho took the Women’s 5k team title while the University of Portland won the Men’s 8k team title. Pacing the men again was Paesen Timm, he crossed the line in 70th place in a time of 28:13. The next three men crossed in quick succession with Derek O’Connor (82nd/28:54), Konrad Raum (88th/29:07), and Jaime Mejia-German (95th/29:24). Rounding out the top scoring five for the Riverhawks was Tucker Clement (110th/30:20). “Tucker had a great day,” King said. “He was the only athlete to set a personal record today, which is impressive considering the mud out there.” Leading the RiverHawks women was Jasmine Lake (43rd/20:38) followed by Jaesa Ruchti (66th/21:37) and Savanna Waters (67th/21:39). Rounding out the top five were Rylee Parsons (90th/22:53) and Michel Bartlett (91st/22:59). “Rylee and Michel are really starting to step up,” King said. “This will be very important as we move into championship racing season.” Umpqua Community College will be hosting the Riverhawk Time Trial next Saturday at 10 a.m. on the college campus. The Northwest Athletic Conference Southern Region Championships will be held on November 2 at Clackamas Community College. Photo of the UCC XC team. Photo Courtesy of Alan King.