Lindsey Butterworth led the Simon Fraser University women’s team to second place overall at the 13th annual Great Northwest conference cross-country championships.
The Clan’s senior women’s captain placed fifth overall in a personal-best time of 20:41 on the six-kilometre in Monmouth, Oregon on Saturday. It was Butterworth’s third consecutive fifth-place finish at the conference championships.
Sophomore teammate Kansas Mackenzie placed eighth in 20:57, while Kirsten Allen rounded out the top-10 in a time of 21.57.
Senior Sarah Sawatzky was right behind in 11th place and freshman Rebecca Bassett placed 15th in a personal-best 21:14 to also score points for the runner-up Clan. Bassett was also named the Great Northwest freshman of the year following the meet.
“The course was fast and it ended up being my fastest six-kilometre race this year,” said Bassett in a Clan press release. “I am really excited to compete at regionals and am hoping to run strong and help the team qualify for nationals.”
Oliver Jorgensen led the Clan to third place with a time of 25:15 and a ninth-place finish in the men’s 8km race. Jorgensen also earned conference freshman of the year honours for SFU.
Senior captain James Young placed 17th in a personal-best 25:41.
Also scoring points for the Clan men’s team were Burnaby’s Cameron Proceviat, in 26th spot, Brendan Wong and Stuart McDonald.
“I’m really proud of both teams,” said SFU head coach Brit Townsend in the release. “They took some risks and it paid off with probably the best conference performances we’ve ever had.”
The regional qualifier will be held in two weeks time in Spokane, Washington.
The top five-finishing teams at the regionals will qualify for the NCAA Division II national championships.
