BEAR FETE: Bruin Alumni Take Running VERY Seriously When Returning to Campus!

ST. PAUL, Ore. - It takes a long time for the competitive juices to stop flowing through the veins of cross country runners, and alumni of the George Fox University running programs are no exception. Take the recent Pacific Dual Meet / GFU Bear Fete event this past Saturday at the Champoeg State Heritage Area, for example.

While hosting an intercollegiate dual meet with Pacific University on the morning of Oct. 1, George Fox head coach John Smith and distance coach Jeff Larson also invited Bruin cross country alumni to come back and compete in the 5K race alongside the men’s and women’s varsity teams of the two schools.  A couple of Pacific alumni also joined in.

When the race was over, the Bruin Alumni men’s team had shown their drive and determination by winning the entire event with 34 points to 43 for the George Fox varsity men and 46 for the Pacific men.  Earning the points for the Alumni were Brandon Workman, who finished second overall with a hand-timed 15:47; Matt Engles, third with a 15:49; Grant Finney, sixth with a 16:02; Bryan Cobb, an assistant coach for the varsity program, ninth with a 16:19; and Cam Eberhart, 15th overall and 14th for team scoring with a 16:35. 

Joseph Pia of the Bruin varsity won the entire race with a time of 15:36, 11 seconds ahead of Workman.  Ten other Bruin men alumni also ran, along with Pacific alumnus Adrian Shipley, who placed 12th with a 16:29. 

In the women’s division, Pacific alumna Samantha Lee was the overall winner with a time of 18:29.48, almost a full minute ahead of the top varsity runner, the Bruins’ Kate Freiheit, who ran a 19:22.  Three George Fox alumnae also competed: Dawn Smith (the coach’s wife) came in 11th with a 20:27, Angie Lindbo was 12th at 20:36, and Beth Strutz was 21st at 21:58.

All results of the Pacific Dual/Bear Fete Meet are available on the Bruin cross country sports website at http://athletics.georgefox.edu/sports/xc/2011-12/files/MenCompleteBEARFETE.htm for the men, and http://athletics.georgefox.edu/sports/xc/2011-12/files/WomenCompleteBEARFETE.htm for the women.