Amanda Phillips placed fourth and Tamma Carleton 13th at the Charles Bowles Invitational, hosted by Willamette University Saturday morning at Bush Pasture Park. The men had two runners finish in the top of the race.

For the women (results) , Willamette's Sarah Zerzan, the reigning DIII National Champion, paced the field of 265 runners in the 5k opening race. The Pioneers' Amanda Phillips (senior, Phoenix, Ore.) finished fourth with a time of 17:37.80. She was the third NWC runner through the chute, trailing only Zerzan and Puget Sound's Brittany Hodgson, with Hodgson edging Phillips by a fraction of a second. Phillips' set a school record for the 5k. Tamma Carleton (junior, Elk, Calif.) finished 13th, 6th among the NWC runners, with a time of 18:08.30. Also finishing in the top half for the Pioneers were Kitty Smith (junior, Malibu, Calif.) (86th, 19:38.95) and Kelsey Croall (freshman, Newcastle, Calif.) (115th, 19:56.95). The women's team finished 14th (344 points) in the field of 26 teams.

"I thought that Amanda ran a very smart and controlled race today," said Head Coach Keith Woodard. "She ran hard but there is a lot more in there. Tamma also ran a smart race but had some trouble with her shoes slipping on the paved parts of the course. The two of them look ready to crank it up when they get back on the 6k courses.  Everyone raced well today but they are just getting under way." 

For the men (results), the team had two runners crack the top 50%, David Berman (junior, Scottsdale, Ariz.), the top-finisher for the Pioneers (126th, 26:55.76) and Karl Dickman (sophomore, Bend, Ore.) (131st, 27:07.05). The team finished 20th (562 points) in the field of 27. Seven of the men ran seasonal bests or personal records. They finished in a tight group with only 27 seconds separating the top 1 through 5 runners and 41 seconds covering the top seven.

Click on the photo below to see an online gallery of pictures from the event.