CORVALLIS, Ore. – The 2016 cross country season is officially underway for Western Oregon, as junior David Ribich continues to build his claim as one of the premier runners in Division II. His winning performance Saturday morning helped the men's team to a second place finish while senior Nicole Maurmann finished just inside the top 10 pacing the women to third place at the John Frank Oregon State Invitational at Avery Park.
 
Ribich crossed the finish line first for the Wolves with a time of 18:21.6, a full 11 seconds ahead of second place. Including Ribich, all seven runners competing for WOU finished in the top 19 with the remaining scorers all finishing 17^th or better. Freshman Justin Crosswhite had a stellar debut earning his first collegiate top 10 with a time of 19:05.5. Coming in 12^th overall was sophomore Tyler Jones at 19:09.7. Junior newcomer Michael Chin was the next runner from Western Oregon to finish, placing 16^th with a time of 19:41.7, while junior Josh Dempsey placed 17^th at 19:46.2.
 
The next finisher was junior transfer Alan Ekanger, crossing the finish line just behind Dempsey at 19:46.7 to place 18^th. Freshman Hunter Mosman crossed at 19:48.1 to come in 19^th place. Junior Kyle Ruhlin (20:16.5) placed 37^th, freshman Sawyer Heckard came in 40^th (20:20.4) and freshman Brennan Buckley-Noonan grabbed 43^rd at 20:33.9.
 
Portland took first in the men's team race with 22 points, as all five scoring runners placed seventh or better. The Wolves had 56 points to claim second ahead of Portland State (75) in third and Concordia (95) in fourth.
 
Maurmann finished in 10^th (17:59) to lead the Wolves on the women's side, while junior Kennedy Rufener crossed the line at 18:18.7 to place 15^th. Sophomore Grace Knapp nabbed 17^th place with a time of 18:31.6. Rounding out the top five WOU scoring times was a 20^th place run from junior Suzanne Van De Grift (18:50.4) and a 23^rd place time of 19:17.3 from sophomore Lauren Kangas.
 
Freshman Virginia Link (19:41.6) was the next highest WOU runner in 29^th, and she was followed by freshman Rachel Bayly (20:05.1) in 32^nd. A trio of runners placed 41^st-43^rd – sophomore Antoinette Gowen (20:27.4), sophomore Kendra Zimmerdahl (20:45) and freshman Grayson Burke (20:47.5). Junior Felicia Covey (21:25.5) crossed in 47^th and freshman Nicole Niskanan came in 50^th at 22:20.1.
 
Portland won the women's event with 22 points after securing the top three individual places. The Pilots outpaced the host Beavers of Oregon State, who finished second with 34 points. WOU (85) beat Portland State (88) by three points in the battle for third, while Concordia (134) took fifth.
 
Western Oregon returns home Friday, Sept. 9, to host the Ash Creek Invitational #1. Races will begin at 5 p.m. from the Ash Creek Preserve, the host site of the 2015 and 2017 NCAA Division II West Region Championships.