Arizona cross-country competed in the second meet for the season on Friday, Sept. 13 at the Cougar Classic hosted by Washington State University at the Colfax Golf Course in Washington.  The men’s team placed fourth in their first 8k race of the season while the women’s team finished eighth in their first 6k of the season.

Gideon Mengich finished first for the team for the second consecutive competition. Mengich ended sixth overall with a time of 23:59.4. Ian Sanchez Lopez kept on pace and was the team’s second finisher, placing 12th with a time of 24:15.8. Cooper Quigley placed third for the team and 16th followed by Michael Urbanski who finished fourth for the team and 25th.

The team finished fourth out of 14 with a score of 127. The schools in front of the Wildcats were only separated by 4 points but commanded the top 3 spots with scores of 64, 62 and Boise State University won the meet with a score of 60. 

In the women’s 6k, senior Alisa Lyesina led the way for the Wildcats, finishing first for the team and 39th overall with a time of 21:54.6. She was followed closely by freshman Laina Friedmann, who clocked a time of 21:57.7 and placed 43rd overall. The team’s third, fourth and fifth runners were Brooklyn Hanania, Kara Mickelson and Eleanor Korten Kamp. 

The Arizona women’s team placed eighth out of 13 with a score of 266. 

The Wildcats will be back in action for their annual home meet, the Dave Murray Invitational, on Sept. 28 in Tucson.