SALEM, Ore. - Whitney Rich was in top form today, beating the entire field for a first-place finish and guiding the Whitman College women's cross country team to seventh place at the 45th Charles Bowles Invitational hosted by Willamette University on Saturday.

Whitman delivered a fine team performance in the men's 8K as well. The Blues placed ninth with every runner setting a personal best. Maamoon Saleh was the top finisher, finishing 48th with a race time of 26:19.90. Grant Martin (63rd, 26.37.10) and Tucker Grinnan (65th, 26:39.30) were the second and third Whitman runners to cross the finish line.

Rich's stellar performance came in a field with a handful of Division I and II runners. It was nearly a battle to the finish line but she pulled away to edge Point Loma's Zita Molnar by just over 10 seconds (17:30.00).

The Blues were the top Division III team, placing comfortably ahead of Northwest Conference foes Willamette (8th), Pacific (9th) and Whitworth (10th).

Kristen Wanke was the second Whitman runner to finish (34th, 18:58.80) with Bryn Carlson returning to action and nearly cracking the Top 50 (52nd, 19:23.20).

Both Blues squads retake the trails in two weeks time as they travel to Portland for the Lewis & Clark Invitational.