Sisters grad wins college conference meet

Parker Bennett, a junior at Willamette University, helped the Bearcats claim the Northwest Conference cross-country title at a meet in Forest Grove on Saturday, October 27, winning the 8,000-meter race in 25:48, 15 seconds ahead of the runner-up.

In an interview following the meet, Bennett said, "I believed in the idea that I could win the race against Matt Klein of Puget Sound," he said. "I haven't been working on my kick much, so I decided to push the third lap to go for the win. The last 800 meters was really tough."

Two other former Outlaws also took part in the meet.

Taylor Steele, a sophomore who runs for Whitworth College in Spokane, narrowly missed placing in the top 10, finishing 11th in 26:40, one second out of first. Mike Calavan, a senior at George Fox, finished in 29:12.

Willamette scored 40 points to win the meet, while Whitworth finished fourth (113) and George Fox fifth (128).

Willamette will run again in two weeks at the Northwest NCAA Regional meet for Division III to be held at Western Oregon University.