Chew Leads Bearcats with 47th Place at Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- Jay Chew (So., Elk Grove, CA/Laguna Creek HS) took 47th place overall for the Bearcats in the men's 8-kilometer race at the 48th Annual Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 30 at Bush's Pasture Park. Chew was 39th among scorers with a time of 25:27.7. Willamette placed 13th in the team standings out of 25 colleges and universities with full teams.

The Bearcats hosted the meet, which honors former Willamette head coach Charles Bowles, who showed a strong commitment to cross country throughout his career. Bowles passed away in 2005, but his legacy continues to be honored each year.

Chew was one of six Bearcats among the top 100 scorers in the men's race, which featured 244 runners. In addition to Chew, other WU runners completing the course in the top 100 were William Hennum (Jr., Henderson, NV/Liberty HS/SW Oregon CC) in 96th place overall and 70th place among scorers, Sage Soto (Fy., Kapolei, HI/Kapolei HS) in 120th place and 88th among scorers, Adam Lewis (Fy., Glendale, CA/Eagle Rock HS) in 121st place and 89th among scorers, Joshua Evans (Jr., Lafayette, CA/Acalanes HS) in 127ith place and 94th among scorers, and Julien Trobaugh (Fy., St. Louis, MO/University City HS) in 128th place and 95th among scorers.

Hennum was timed at 26:37.8, while Sato earned a time of 27:12.7. Lewis reached the finish line in 27:12.8 and Evans achieved a time of 27:19.1. Trobaugh attained a time of 27:20.5. Also running for Willamette in the men's race was Liam Bergevin (Fy., Walla Walla, WA/Walla Walla HS). Bergevin registered a time of 28:26.3.

The runner winning the individual title in the men's race was Matthew Doris of Mount San Antonio College, who claimed a time of 23:37.8 to win by 14.8 seconds over Yonas Sauers of Seattle University, who placed second in 23:52.6. Roman Kirkov, running unattached, was third in 23:53.4 and Trey Gannon, also running unattached, placed fourth in 24:13.1. Robert Svaboda of Corban University was fifth in 24:18.1. Cohen Williams of the University of Portland grabbed sixth place at 24:25.0. Jonathon Zavala of Mount SAC was seventh at 24:31.6 .

Eastern Oregon University won the team title with a score of 77 (7-11-13-20-26), narrowing edging out Mount San Antonio College, which placed second at 79 (1-5-19-25-29). The University of Texas at San Antonio was third at 114, College of Idaho was fourth at 120, and the University of Portland was fifth at 124. Willamette's score in 13th place was 380, just 12 points behind Lane in 12th at 368 and 51 points behind Linfield in 11th at 329.

Willamette will compete at the George Oja Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 14 at the Oak Knoll Golf Course west of Salem. The meet, hosted by Linfield University, is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. PDT.