The Trojan cross country teams made another claim that they are the bright spot in EvCC's fall sports with another dominating performance.

The Men's and Women's cross country teams came away with perfect scores at Bellingham's Lake Padden Park in the 2009 NWAACC Northern Region cross country championships on Halloween morning.

Since taking over coaching duties in 2006, Head Coach Matt Koenigs has turned the program from a group that could barely yield a team to one the more dominant forces in the NWAACC in four short years.

The Women's team got off to a fast start and held off runners form Highline CC, Green River CC and Skagit Valley CC to claim first through eleventh in the meet.

While most of Western Washington was having rain dumped on them, it was dry in Bellingham, except for the ground that was soggy and muddy. Trojan Athletic Director Larry Walker is a big fan of the park, but not so much the 50-mile drive to get there. "I wish it was closer to campus so we could host more meets, but it's beautiful here," he said.

The runners were covered in dirt after they tore through the soggy ground, on route to a perfect first place finish. With Freshman Shawna Schooleyed leading, and her first-place finish of 18:49, the Trojans took home the team title uncontested with a perfect 15 points in the 5k.

Schooley was named the NWAACC athlete of the week for her performance at the Charles Bowles Invite on Oct. 3 in Salem, OR and has had the best time for the Trojans in every meet of the year. Valerie Massie, Kelsey Loomans, Kelly Talkington and Krissy McGill rounded out the top five for Everett.

The men's team had just as much success as the women's did, also earning a perfect 15 points in route to the Northern Region championship. Everett finished with the top eight times, and 16 of the top 20 in a day that belonged to the Trojans.

Before the start of the race, the Trojans let out a rallying chant that left the runners form other schools with a sense of uncertainty they wouldn't recover from. At several points during the race, Everett held 17 of the top 20 positions as they cruised to the championship.

Emanuel Contreras was the top finisher for the third time this year, taking the 8k with a time of 26:37. Joining Contreras in the top five were Tim Welch, Josh Alexander, Seth Pierson and Yon Yilma, whose times were all within 20 seconds of each other.

Happy to have come out on top, but still humble, Contreras enjoyed the team's success more than his individual success. "I'm disappointed, another [player] should have beat me," he said. "I wanted a couple of guys to beat me."

One player in particular that Contreras would have liked to place higher than him was Yon Yilma, who finished fifth with a time 26:57. "He should be destroying this course," Contreras said. Contreras, like many of his teammates, said the reason for the success this year is their work ethic and "really good coaches." "Some of our guys go out pretty hard," he said.

EvCC Athletic Director Larry Walker conducted the trophy presentation. During the presentation, the Trojans hoisted both team titles, and Coach Koenigs was named the Women's Coach of the Year, and the Men's Co-Coach of the Year.

Next up for the Trojans is the NWAACC Championships in Battle Ground, WA on Nov. 14.