Mitchell secures 18-second victory in opener, with Brigham Young capturing women’s 6-kilometer team title; Bove leads Cal Poly men past host Oregon in 8-kilometer matchup

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

SPRINGFIELD, Ore. – Kaylee Mitchell had no intentions of racing at this year’s Bill Dellinger Invitational. 

Recently training in Flagstaff, Ariz., for the upcoming cross country season, Mitchell made an early return to Corvallis where Oregon State head coach Louie Quintana could add her to the Beavers’ lineup in an early season contest, even if it meant competing with no expectations.

On Friday at the Pine Ridge Golf Club in Springfield, the senior delivered a statement win.

RACE VIDEOS | INTERVIEWS | RESULTS | PHOTOS by Kim Spir

Mitchell covered the 6-kilometer course in 19 minutes, 37.2 seconds to earn the win in the women’s race, crossing the finish line 18 seconds ahead of the rest of the field that featured No. 6 BYU and No. 7 Oregon.

“I felt really good,” Mitchell said. “I know leading for a long time has been one of my weaknesses, and I’m somebody that really likes to work on getting better at my weaknesses, so I figured why not?”

From start to finish, Mitchell held her own against the likes of reigning Dellinger champion Sierra Atkins of UC Davis and BYU All-Americans Lexy Halladay-Lowry and Aubrey Frentheway.

Mitchell broke away from the field around the 4-kilometer mark, increasing her lead to 11 seconds. She continued to progress through the final 2 kilometers, adding to her insurmountable lead.

The Cougars scored 42 points to take the team title with seven women placing inside the top 20.

Halladay-Lowry and Frentheway finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Halladay-Lowry ran 20:01.5 and Frentheway running 20:05.6.

Jenna Hutchins secured eighth place in 20:18.5, with Jacey Farmer (12th, 20:37.7) and Anastaysia Davis (13th, 20:37.9) rounding out the scoring for the Cougars.

Maddy Elmore and Izzy Thornton-Bott earned top 10 individual finishes to lead the Ducks to finish second in the team standings with 78 points. Elmore placed seventh in 20:12.7 and Thornton-Bott was right behind in ninth at 20:23.

Anika Thompson was just shy of cracking the top 10 for Oregon, finishing 11th in 20:36.9.

UC Davis’ Brianna Weidler finished as runner-up in 19:55.1, with teammate Atkins trailing her in third at 19:55.8.

Linda Perez of UC Riverside took home sixth-place honors in 20:06.07 and Idaho’s Katja Pattis rounded out the top 10, running 20:32.9.

Cal Poly scored 122 points to finish third and beat No. 17 Oregon State’s 148 points for fourth.

The Cal Poly men showed a strong team result in the 8-kilometer race, scoring 41 points to claim the title over No. 15 Oregon.

LSU graduate transfer Davis Bove paved the way for the Mustangs, taking home the individual crown in 23:40.1, outkicking Oregon’s Quincy Norman in 23:43.8.

In addition to Bove, three other Cal Poly runners cracked the top 20 with William Fallini-Haas placing fifth in 23:49.2, Aidan McCarthy in 15th in 24:10.9 and Anthony Guerra earning 17th in 24:12.4.

Elliott Cook provided another strong performance for the Ducks following his win at the Linfield Harrier Classic, finishing seventh in 24:00.6. Teammate Abdinasir Hussein finished 20th in 24:16.4 for Oregon.

Oregon freshman Simeon Birnbaum competed unattached and ran to a third-place finish in his collegiate debut, clocking 23:44.1, with sophomore teammate Josh Edwards, who also ran unattached, finishing right behind him in fourth in 23:45.2. Archie Noakes, another Oregon freshman, placed 10th as an unattached competitor in 24:06.2.

Estanis Ruiz, an unattached athlete from Portland, secured sixth place in 23:53.

UC Santa Barbara’s Ethan Godsey ran 24:02.6 for eighth place and Cal's Carrick Denker ran 24:04.8 to finish in ninth.

UC Riverside scored 138 points to finish third in the team race.