CHENEY, Wash. - The Whitman College cross country team kicked off the season on Thursday, taking part in the Clash of the Inland Northwest hosted by Eastern Washington University.

The men's squad placed fourth ahead of Northwest Conference foe Whitworth with the women's team racing to a fifth-place finish.

Reilly McVay was the top finisher for the Blues on the men's side, placing 21st overall in the 6K race with a time of 19:45.50 and mile split time of 5:17.90. Troy Petternell and Gabe Wasserman were next to come in and crack the top 40. Petternell ran a split time of 5:26.10 and a race time of 20:15.90, and Wasserman posted split and race times of 5:29.10 and 20:27.20, respectively.

Dori Buttleman led the way for the Blues in the women's 4K. She placed 16th overall with a mile split time of 6:15.80 and a race time of 15:34.30. Ally Kim also cracked the top 30 for the Blues, placing 29th with times of 6:35.90 and 16:24.10.

The Blues are back in action on Saturday, Sept. 17 at the PLU Invitational.