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an athletic program that boasts numerous outstanding
teams, Pacific Lutheran cross country continues
to be among the most successful. In the past 26
years, 14 PLU women's teams have placed in the top
seven nationally, including winning the NAIA national
championship in 1988. The men's team has won 11
conference titles in the past 22 years.
From 1981 through 1992, the PLU women won every
Northwest Conference championship meet, twice with
a clean sweep of the top five places. Since 1981,
15 different PLU women runners have earned All-America
honors a total of 26 times. Among that elite group
is Valerie Hilden, who won NAIA national titles
as a freshman in 1985 and again as a senior in 1988.
Hilden never finished lower than fourth in a national
cross country meet and in 1997 was inducted into
the NAIA Hall of Fame.
Marée George won the 1998 West Region meet,
then placed fifth at nationals to earn All-America
honors. Lia Ossiander represented PLU at the national
meet three straight years, earning All-America recognition
by finishing ninth at the 2000 NCAA championships.
 The
PLU men's cross program won a string of nine consecutive
conference crowns (1984-92). No other conference
school has won as many. Pacific Lutheran finished
third at the 1996 national meet, the school's top
team finish at that level. In 1998, behind the winning
performance of Ryan Pauling, the Lutes placed second
at the NCAA Division III West Region meet. Pauling
later earned All-America honors with a 14th-place
finish at the national meet. In 2002, Ryan Reed
earned All-America honors with a 10th-place finish
at the national meet.
The Lute men and women annually compete in some
of the region's top meets, including the Willamette
Invitational and the Lutes' own PLU Invitational.
Contact Info:
Head Coach: Heather Kreier
Olson Auditorium
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA 98447
Phone: (253) 535-7371
Email: kreierhy@plu.edu
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