PHOTO GALLERY-WOMEN'S RACE                       PHOTO GALLERY-MEN'S RACE

CALDWELL, Idaho – Eastern Oregon University cross country runners, Karlee Coffey and Damion Flores, each took the individual titles at the Coyote Twilight Meet Thursday.

Running in beautiful conditions in Caldwell, Idaho, the EOU Harriers came away from the meet with the pair of individual wins and runner up team finishes.

As she has much of the season, Coffey ran away from the competition, besting the field by close to a minute. Coffey's winning time of 17:38 was just off her 5K school-record run of 17:37 at the Charles Bowles Invite on Oct. 2, in Salem, Ore. Second place went to The College of Idaho's Kristine Smith with a time of 18:33.

Sarah Hanchett ran second for EOU with a fifth place overall finish with a time of 18:48. Talissa Baldovino, ran a lifetime best of 19:09 for a 12th place finish. Baldovino was followed closely by Laura Hansen (15th in 19:22) and Kimmy Moore (17th in 19:25). It was Moore's first 5K race.

Other competitors for EOU were Alma Garcilazo (26th in 19:48), Cristal Delgado (30th in 19:53), Christy Roe (46th in 21:09), Arianne LaFerriere (47th in 21:16) and Monique McKenzie (50th in 21:34). McKenzie's time was a lifetime best by a minute.

In the women's team battle, the 15th ranked EOU squad finished second behind the seventh ranked Yotes and ahead of Boise State's "B" squad and NCAA Div. 2 Northwest Nazarene (the eighth ranked program in the Div. 2 West Region). Treasure Valley Community College rounded out the field and there were 61 individual finishers.

In the men's race things were much tighter both in the individual and team battles. Flores won a tight individual race with a fast kick over C of I's Greg Montgomery. Rounding a tight, almost 180-degree turn, about 150 meters from the end the two competitors were neck and neck when Flores unleashed the kick to win by 2.5 seconds with a time of 24:54. The 1-2 finish between these two was the reverse of last year's race at this meet.

The team battle between the 9th-ranked Yotes and 16th-ranked Mountaineer men resembled the individual race but with the opposite result. The College of Idaho prevailed 28 points to 29 points in a close battle that featured a number of hard fought battles throughout the race right down to the finish.

Forrest Lumpry and Kody Coxen bracketed a pair if C of I runners in a close four-man dash to the finish. Lumpry prevailed over the tight group to finish fifth overall with a time of 25:54. Between Lumpry and Coxen (8th in 25:58) were a pair of C of I runners. Justin Dean was the next runner across the line (26:07), while Ryan Booth rounded out EOU's scoring in 11th place overall at 26:17. Isaac Updike used a strong kick to prevail over C of I's 5th man to keep things close.

Other EOU racers were Brian Bragg (28th in 27:11), Michael Wanta (36th in 27:37 with one shoe), Zach Seely (38th in 27:44), Josh Wise (43rd in 27:56) and Tom Sheehy (49th in 28:32) who suffered a re-strained calf muscle during the race. There were 71 male finishers and the same five teams.

The Mountaineers have next weekend off, and then be back in action at the Cascade Conference Championships in Klamath Falls on Nov. 6. The meet promises to be a highly competitive field with four ranked teams on both sides and a fifth receiving votes on the women's side.