Oct. 26 was a busy day for Wildcats as five different Wildcat teams took on a variety of matchups, including a championship for cross country and a homecoming game for the football team. With only one game at home, the Wildcats had to travel a total of 1867.1 miles for their games.
The women’s rugby team began the day against Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. Jessica Postle started the scoring off with the first score of the match seven minutes in. The Wildcats used this momentum to go into halftime with a 20-10 score. Sophomore fullback Merary Ulloa-Uribe and freshman scrum-half Elisa-Manaia Atuaia got their first collegiate tries as the ‘Cats continued to dominate, winning 53-24.
Volleyball was next on the day against Montana State University. The Wildcats took a swift 8-1 first set lead and despite the Yellowjackets coming back with their own 5-1 run, the ‘Cats won the first set 25-20. The Wildcats didn’t take their foot off the gas as they took the second set 25-12 and won the third 25-17. The Wildcats shutout the Yellowjackets 3-0 in set, thanks to the offensive prowess of fifth year outside hitter Marianna Payne, who continues to lead the Wildcats in “kills”, and the defensive expertise of fifth year libero Hannah Stires.
The cross country teams traveled to Bellingham, Wash. for the Great Northwest Atlantic Conference (GNAC) championship. The men’s team swung for the fences, earning 5th place with 95 points. Leading the way on the men’s side was standout fifth year distance runner Johan Correa who earned second place in the 8K alongside junior distance runner Ramon Rodriguez who placed third, just over three seconds behind Correa.
On the women’s side, Payton Conover led the women, finishing 31st. Behind Conover was Hannah Pidduck who finished 33rd. Thanks to the efforts of Pidduck and Conover, the women placed 7th in the GNAC championship.
The only team to take a major loss on the day for the ‘Cats was the women’s soccer team who continues to look for their first GNAC win. The Wildcats got shutout 0-4 against Western Washington University on the road in Bellingham, Wash. The Wildcat offense couldn’t get started as Western Washington took a 2-0 lead. Western Washington led in shots in the first half with 12 while Central only had four. Western continued the pattern, scoring two more in the second half and led in shots with nine to Central’s six. The Wildcats got outscored in every metric except for fouls, which both teams tied with ten.
To finish off the night, the Wildcats football team came home to honor all Central Washington alumni in a homecoming game against Midwestern State University (MSU). The Wildcats showed up and showed out, stomping MSU 42-21, never giving up the lead to the visiting Mustangs. The Mustangs had no answer for the Central offense as three of the six Wildcats touchdowns came from more than 35 yards out. While the Mustangs couldn’t find an answer to sophomore quarterback Kennedy McGill and his four total touchdowns, senior safety Tanner Volk had all of the answers to the Mustangs offense, coming away with 3 tackles and 3 interceptions. Those three interceptions tie a school record for interceptions in a single game, one of the interceptions coming from a fake punt at midfield. Junior running back Tyler Flannigan also had an outstanding night leading the ground attack with 111 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns, one of which going for 41 yards. Flannigan also added 22 receiving yards to his stats. The Wildcat defense didn’t come up with any sacks on the day but senior defensive linemen Josiah Cochran and Chase Loidhamer combined for the only tackle for loss.
The women’s soccer team returns home for a Halloween matchup against Seattle Pacific University on Oct. 31 looking for their first win in 56 days. Women’s rugby have another tough task at home against rival Life University on Nov 1. Women’s volleyball also returns home on Nov. 2 to face Northwestern Nazarene University while football travels to San Angelo, Texas to face Angelo State University.
