Whitman College Invitational Saturday, Sept. 1 Ft. Walla Walla Park Walla Walla, Wash. Placing three runners in the top 12 and five in the first 16, the Whitman women's cross country team ran a strong second at the annual season-opening Whitman Invitational Saturday morning at Fort Walla Walla Park. Sophomores Sara McCune and Yasmeen Colis led the way for the Missionaries, placing fourth and seventh, respectively, with times of 15:40.92 and 15:58.84 for the 4,000-meter course. Lewis-Clark State, a nationally-ranked NAIA school, was first in the women's team scoring with 27 place points. Whitman was second with 46 points, beating two Northwest Conference rivals, Whitworth (66) and George Fox (91). Both the women's and men's teams at Lewis-Clark State are nationally ranked, so to see the Whitman women finish a relatively close second was encouraging," Whitman coach Malcolm Dunn said. "Our women also beat Whitworth and George Fox pretty soundly, and we lost to those teams at the conference championships last year. Our first five runners all finished ahead of the third runner for both Whitworth and George Fox." McCune, who had the day's best time among the NWC women, ran a "very smart race," Dunn said. "She didn't start too quickly, and then she worked off Lewis-Clark State's top two runners for most of the race. Sara lost third place to a Clackamas Community College runner at the very end, but she's starting her sophomore season in much shape than a year ago." Colis was a "little disappointed" in her race, Dunn said, but "once she gets a few more races under her belt, she's going to be fine." Michela Corcorran, another sophomore, ran third for Whitman, placing 12th overall in 16:18.14. "She was running today on tired legs, but she's going to get stronger as well over the next few weeks." Sophomore Emily Rodriguez and senior captain Lisa Taylor rounded out Whitman's team score. Rodriguez finished 15th in 16:23.64, just ahead of Taylor and her 16:24.87 time. "It was great to see Emily break into our top five," Dunn said. "She was a good runner last year, but she worked so hard over the winter, spring and summer months. Both Emily and Lisa are much stronger runners than they were a year ago." In the women's race, first-year runners Lydia Ngai and Chelsea Momany had the sixth- and seventh-best times for Whitman. Ngai was 28th overall in 16:48.21 while Momany was 29th in 16:51.49. "Both Lydia and Chelsea will benefit when he go to the standard 6,000 meters for the women's races," Dunn said. "They were only about 20 seconds out of our top five." Sophomores Heather O'Moore (32nd, 17:01.94) and Amy Chapman (34th, 17:08.61), along with first-year runner Janna Rozar (37th, 17:12.62), filled out Whitman's top 10. "Heather and Amy should get stronger, and I think Janna has a good upside as well," Dunn said. Also running for the Whitman women were two first-year runners Kayla Chory (41st, 17:38.07) and Natalie Fowler (49th, 18:38.43), and first-year senior Rachel Carrol (51st, 20:08.78). Whitman returns to action next Saturday at the Lewis & Clark Invitational at McIver Park near Estacade, Ore.