The first races of 2008 cross country season were run this past weekend. Though many teams will wait until next week for their first major race, these preliminary races allow athletes to test their legs and to see if their summer training has paid off.  The time has come to see if various teams can live up to the preseason rankings. Usually, on this opening weekend the meets are small and local, but there is still plenty of competition. Readers are free to add to any results they have to the comment section.

Wooster Invite: In the women’s 4k race, Edinboro’s Hilary Weismiller ran a time of 15:48, leading her team to a second place finish with 37 points behind the D3 squad from Kenyon College.  Edinboro’s men’s team swept the 6k race with a perfect 15. Their first place runner, Nick Hankin, ran a winning time of 20:20.

Western Oregon Summer End Invitational:  The Western Oregon University men's and women's cross country teams both rallied late in the race to capture second place team finishes behind Portland University. The women’s team scored 67 points behind Portland’s 20. Western Oregon’s Jessica Harper was the first DII finisher with a 5k time of 19:35.6. The men’s team scored 70 points behind Portland’s 28 points. Western Oregon’s Zeke Van Patten was the first DII finisher in the 8k race with a time of 25:01.20.

Sixth Annual Cougar Invitational: Columbus State University captured both team titles over Clayton State at the Cougar Invitational. For the women’s team title, Columbus scored 23 points over Clayton State’s 39 points. Clayton State senior, Allison Kreutzer, cruised to an 18:36.58 time over the 5K course to outdistance her nearest competitor by over a minute. Columbus State gained the upper hand with the team’s depth, scoring 26 points over Clayton State’s 31 points. The men’s 8K race saw the Clayton State take the first two spots as senior Anthony Aguilar finished ahead of teammate, sophomore Fidelis Mutiso, to win the individual title.

Preseason Regional polls were released this week and can be found: http://ustfccca.cstv.com/- feel free to discuss below.