The Eastern Washington University cross country teams competed at the Big Sky Championships Oct. 31 in Cedar City, Utah, with the women finishing second and the men fourth.

The women’s team – ranked sixth in the western region – came home with a program-best second place finish. The Eagles had a balanced attack led by 2014 Big Sky champion junior Sarah Reiter’s eighth place finish with a time of 18:25.8.

Reiter was followed by senior Catie Arrigoni, finishing ninth with a time of 18:36.2 and a 12th place finish by fellow senior Berenice Penaloza, in 18:46.7. Senior Mayra Chavez and junior Paula Gil-Echevarria rounded out the Eagles’ scoring, finishing 18th and 28th, respectively.

“We had a great day today, a career all-time day for Eastern. It’s a big step in our program. I am pleased with how every single one of our women athletes ran,” said head coach Chris Shane. “To get beaten by a top 30 team in the country and moving up, it speaks volumes to our program at EWU. I expect more great things in the future from that team.”

The women scored 75 points, losing out to Big Sky champions, Weber State Wildcats, who moved up to 27th in the national rankings.

The men’s team equaled their second-best finish in program history, finishing fourth behind Northern Arizona, Weber State and the Big Sky champions and host school, Southern Utah, which came in first place.

The men were led by junior Stephen Bottoms, who finished 12th with a time of 26:13.2. Sophomore Austin Oser finished 17th overall with a time of 26:29.6, followed by junior Alex Kimsey’s 20th place finish in 26:38.6. Scoring was wrapped up by a 33rd place finish by junior Isaac Kitzan and a 38th place finish by junior Daniel Schofield.

“On the men’s side I saw more of the same gutsy effort. I could not have asked for more from them today,” said Shane. “The way that we trained this year, sacrificing some early races to put in more training, it put our men in a situation where they had to be ultimately confident that they had the training to compete at their best.”

Combined, the men’s and women’s team finished with 193 points, the third-lowest score behind Northern Arizona’s 128 points and Weber State’s 135 points.

“Overall, we were one of the best programs out there today. We can look forward to bigger and better things as Eastern Washington develops and grows and I can expect the program to be a real powerhouse over the next few years,” said Shane of the combined team efforts.

What’s Next: The teams will compete in the West Regional Championships in Seattle on Nov. 13. Following the regional championships is the NCAA Division I Championships in Louisville, Kentucky on Nov. 21.