VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds men's and women's cross country teams had near identical finishes at the 2009 Western Washington University Invitational held Saturday at Lake Padden in Bellingham, Wash. The men captured third overall in the team race with 84 points with the women also earning a bronze-medal finish on their 88 points.

Western Washington won the men's race with 23 points behind a 1-2-3 finish led by Jordan Welling, who took home the individual title in a time of 31:41. Club Northwest was second with 63 points.

In the women's race, it was the opposite at the top with Club Northwest edging out the hosts 32 to 39.

Kerry Kazuta once again led the UBC men's team, finishing first among the T-Birds with a 10th-place result. He covered the 10-kilometre course, which is two kilometres longer than the distance to be run at the NAIA Championships, in 32 minutes and 40 seconds. Ben Thistlewood (33:15) and Nigel Hole (33:26) also joined Kazauta in the top 20 as the duo finished 15th and 18th overall, respectively.

Sabrina Reeve continued her strong season with a fifth-place finish in the women's six-kilometre race (22:06). Reeve missed the podium by a mere three seconds.

Nelly Amenyogbe was the only other T-Bird to finish in the top 20, stopping the clock in 23:14 for a 19th-place showing.