Lutes Closing in on Conference Meet

THIS WEEK: The Pacific Lutheran men’s and women’s cross country teams will compete in the Beaver Classic on Saturday in Corvallis, Oregon. The women’s 6k race will start at 9:45 a.m. with the men’s 8k starting an hour later at 10:45.

LAST WEEK: The Lutes had their only bye week of the season last weekend in order to get some training in preparation for the Northwest Conference Meet.

NWC MEET: The 2007 Northwest Conference Cross Country Championships is taking place on Oct. 27 at the Willamette Mission State Park. The meet will be hosted by the Bruins of George Fox. PLU is coming off a string of poor performances at the conference meet with the men’s team finishing no higher than eighth the past three seasons. The women’s team has not fared any better finishing ninth and eighth the last two seasons.

WOMEN RANKED IN WEST REGION: The Pacific Lutheran women’s cross country team members found themselves ranked in the top 10 in the two most recent Division III women's cross country west region rankings. The Lutes are in a tie for 10th in the region, which is comprised of schools from the NWC, California, and Colorado. The NWC had a strong showing with five of the teams ahead of PLU hailing from the conference, including the top four. Willamette was atop the list, followed by Puget Sound, Whitman and Whitworth. Fifth and sixth were Colorado College and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Right ahead of PLU was Redlands, Occidental, and Lewis & Clark, with UC Santa Cruz tied with PLU for 10th.