Sept. 25, 2007

HARRIERS ROUGHED UP IN NWC PREVIEW MEET

THIS WEEK: The Pacific Lutheran cross country team will travel to Salem, Ore. to take part in the Charles Bowles Invitational hosted by Willamette University. The race is on Saturday the 29th, with the men’s race starting at 9 a.m. and the women’s 5k race at 9:44 a.m.

MORE ON CHARLES BOWLES: The Charles Bowles Invitational is one of the largest college cross country races on the west coast with over 1,000 runners entered in the meet. The Lutes will be up against some stiff competition in Salem as they will be competing against some of the top NCAA Division II and III and NAIA teams in the country. The course is notoriously fast so expect some huge personal records this week.

WED COOK BEAR FETE: The Pacific Lutheran cross country squads were missing some of their top runners and it showed as the Lutes finished in the back of the pack last weekend at the Wes Cook Bear Fete Invitational cross country races hosted by George Fox University at Willamette Mission State Park. The men’s team was missing senior Ben Johnson who has been sidelined by calf problems. A miss communication with the start of the race further hindered the men’s team as they were rushed to the starting line. Senior Michael Jorgenson was forced to drop out of the race at the three mile mark due to hip problems. Kenneth Chilcoat was able to put out a solid time of 26:57 to lead the Lutes. Following Chilcoat was freshman Barrett Bollen in 28:43 with Mark Manske rounding out the top three in 29:19. In the team scores Linfield scored 35 points, followed by George Fox with 65, Willamette University with 73, Whitman with 79, GFU Alumni with 122, Lewis & Clark College with 137, and Pacific Lutheran University with 177. Pacific University had individual runners but no team score. In the women’s 6K race, the Lutes were also without one of their top harriers. Senior Lauren McDonald did not compete due to illness. Freshman Corrine Gogert led PLU with a time of 23:36.1, followed by Mary Wuest, another freshman, 16th in a time of 23:52.1. In the team scores Whitman tallied 41 points, followed by Lewis & Clark with 82, George Fox with 91, Linfield with 92, Pacific Lutheran with 94, and Willamette with 108. Again, Pacific had individual runners but no team score.

WOMEN RANKED IN WEST REGION: The Pacific Lutheran women’s cross country team found themselves ranked in the top ten in the recent Division III Women's Cross Country West Regional Rankings. The Lutes were 8th on the list which is comprised of schools from the NWC, California, and Colorado. The NWC had a strong showing with five of the seven teams ahead of PLU hailing from the NWC. Willamette was atop of the list, followed by Puget Sound, Whitman and Whitworth. Fifth and sixth were Colorado College and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Right ahead of PLU was Lewis & Clark and Occidental and Redlands rounded out the top ten.

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