Poets open season with solid showing at Fullerton

FULLERTON, Calif. - The Whittier College men's and women's cross country teams began their seasons on Saturday evening at the Titan Invitational with a pair of 16th place finishes against an array of collegiate teams. The women placed out of 26 teams while the men competed against 19.

On the women's side sophomore Michele Callaway picked up where she left off from the 2008 season with another stellar performance. She was the first Poet to cross the finish in a time of 25:02.6 to have an individual place of 64-out-of-263.

Callaway was followed closely by fellow sophomore Candace Wray who was just two seconds behind her 2008 All-West Region teammate. Wray crossed the line in 25:04.7 for a 66th place finish.

Molly Litherland, another sophomore, broke the top 100 with an 87th place finish in a time of 25:51.7. She was followed by Carly Tillery and Eva Aguilar who finished in 115th and 117th place, respectively, to round out the Whittier top five.

Tillery came in at 26:49.4 while Aguilar finished the course in a time of 26:51.3.

On the men's side sophomore Travis Airola was the top finisher for the purple and gold with a 78th place finish.  The men's race had a total of 213 runners and Airola finished in a time of 28:05.5.

Fellow sophomore Juan Bustos clocked in at 28:57 while Kevin Mancilla, Marvin Cano and Marco Leone placed third, fourth and fifth, respectively, for the Poets.

Mancilla ran a 28:59.4, Cano a 29:40.6 and Leone a 29:54.4.

Both the men and women were the top Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference school finisher. The women's ran against Redlands while the men ran against La Verne and Redlands.

The cross country teams return to action next Saturday morning (9 am) at the Bulldog Invitational hosted by the University of Redlands.

Men's Results: Titan Invitational Men 8K Run
Women's Results: Titan Invitational Women 6K Run