Oct. 4, 2007

LUTE HARRIERS HOST PLU INVITATIONAL THIS WEEKEND

THIS WEEK: The Pacific Lutheran cross country teams will host the PLU Invitational this Saturday starting at 10 a.m. on the University Golf Course. The women’s 6k race will start at 10 a.m. with the 8k race for the men starting at 11 a.m.

MORE ON PLU INVITE: This weekend the golf course will be overrun by harriers from a handful of schools competing at the 2nd annual PLU Invitational. Four Northwest Conference schools will be attending with Whitman, Whitworth, Lewis & Clark, and Puget Sound making the trip. Western Oregon, who is a NCAA Division II institution, will also bring a squad to the meet. If last years inaugural PLU Invite is any indication expect some fast times on Saturday. The meet record for the men is 25:14 set last year by Linfield’s Harrison Wilson. The women’s 6k meet record is 21:51 held by Whitworth’s Julie Lauterbach. They don’t call it the Parkland Plains for nothing.

WILLAMETTE RESULTS: Pacific Lutheran finished 16th in the women’s division and the Lute men placed 23rd at the Charles Bowles Invitational hosted by Willamette University last Saturday at Bush’s Pasture Park. For the third time in four races this season, freshman Corrine Gogert led the PLU women, placing 43rd overall in a time of 18:54.9 over the 5-kilometer course. Lexie Miller had a strong showing, placing 79th in a time of 19:35.0, followed closely by Lauren McDonald, 82nd in 19:35.9, and Mary Wuest, 85th in 19:38.4. Katie Choate rounded out the top five for the Lutes, placing 113th in a time of 19:55.1. In the men’s race junior Mike Jorgensen led the Lutes for the third time this season, placing 118th overall in a time of 26:47.5 over the 8-kilometer course. Rounding out PLU’s scoring runners were Kenneth Chilcoat, 162nd in a time of 27:30.6, Ben Johnson, 177th in a time of 27:52.3, Chris Ramirez, 209th in a time of 28:53.0, and Mark Manske, 221st in a time of 29:34.4.

THE OTHER PLU INVITE: From 1981-2005 the Lutes played host to one of the top college cross country races in Western Washington. The old PLU invite saw teams from all classifications, including the University of Washington, come to Tacoma to race in a very competitive atmosphere. The meet record for the men’s 8k was a blistering 24:10 held by Dave Henderson of PSU. The women’s 5k meet record was 17:06 held by PLU’s own Patty Ley. The meet was held at Fort Steilacoom from 1981-2002 with the final two years being moved to the PLU golf course due to construction at Fort Steilacoom.

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.

NEX WEEK: The Lutes have their only bye of the season next week as they prep for the post season in the coming weeks.

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