Ex-Cougar Wins In Missoula

Michigan’s men and Brigham Young’s women won team titles at Saturday’s Mountain West Classic cross country meet in Missoula.

Michigan scored 48, Oregon 70 and Washington State 73 in the 15-team men’s field. BYU scored 26, the BYU freshmen 106 and WSU 113 in the women’s field, also 15 teams.

Men’s winner Patrick Muturi completed the 8,000 meters in 24 minutes, 16.8 seconds, nearly 8 seconds ahead of Michigan’s John Mortimer.

Muturi, formerly of WSU, ran unattached. WSU’s Bernard Lagat finished fourth in 24:45.2.

Idaho’s men placed 11th, led by Josh Muxen’s 56th-place showing in 26:48.4. Tyson Estes (27:01.9) finished 63rd to lead Eastern Washington, which placed 13th.

Arizona’s Amy Skieresz won the women’s 6,000 in 20:32.1. BYU placed five runners in the top 11. WSU’s top placer, Kim Schmolka, was 21st in 22:18.8.

Idaho finished 10th and EWU 11th. Amber Johnson (22:48.8) of EWU placed 39th. Idaho’s Jaime Stone, a Deer Park grad, was 44th in 22:52.3.

The CCS men scored 51 points to top 29 Class 2 teams at the Willamette Invitational in Salem, Ore. Shawn Beitlespacher of CCS ran the 8,000 in 24:36.14 to finish in fourth place.

Champion Cormac Smith (23:56.0) led Boise State to the team title among six Class 1 teams. Gonzaga placed fifth, with Shane Litzenberger (26:42.94) in 87th.

BSU also won the Class 1 women’s title. Beth Mulligan ran 18:39.29 for 5,000 to place 26th and lead GU to fourth in the five-team division.

Fifth-place Erika Colin (17:53.09) guided CCS to fourth place among 28 Class 2 teams. North Idaho College placed seventh, with Heather Harmon (17:58.34) of West Valley High in eighth place.

Women’s soccer

Erin Fitzpatrick scored off a corner kick and Gonzaga (5-5) defeated Northern Arizona 2-0 in 95-degree weather at the Miner Classic at Texas-El Paso.

Kiera Silva added a late goal on a loose ball in front of the net. Sara Kinsky made seven saves for the shutout.

The Lumberjacks are 2-8. GU plays the host Miners this afternoon.

Heidi Bohnett scored twice as Whitworth (4-5-1, 4-3) snapped a two-match losing streak with a 3-0 win over visiting Linfield (1-8-2, 0-7) in the Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges.

Jonna Glenn set up Bohnett’s first goal at 7 minutes, then scored less than 10 minutes later.

Heidi Simmons scored three times in the first 32 minutes as visiting CCS (5-0-1) defeated Wenatchee 6-0 in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges.

Angie Vulcano registered the shut-out, CCS’ fifth in conference matches.

Men’s soccer

Craig Parton’s goal at 40 minutes allowed visiting Linfield (4-6-1, 1-5-1) to tie Whitworth at 1 in an NCIC match.

Matt Leonard, on a pass from Rich Wells, scored at 22:30 for the Pirates (3-5-1, 1-5-1).

Matt Clarke’s second goal, with 1 minute left, lifted Wenatchee to a 3-2 win over visiting CCS in the NWAACC.

Paul Johnson’s goal at 60 minutes gave the Sasquatch a 2-1 edge, but CCS goalkeeper Ehren Lawhead was ejected moments later for an intentional hand ball outside the penalty area.