Results

TACOMA, Wash. — Kai Sorensen made the most of Pacific Lutheran University's home course advantage on Saturday. The senior navigated the four loops around the south end of campus on a wet and muddy day, securing All-Conference honors at the 2025 Northwest Conference Men's Cross Country Championships and helping the team finish eighth in the team standings.

The reigning NWC Champion in the 800-meters, Sorensen showed off his endurance on Saturday at the PLU Meadows Course, navigating the waterlogged 8,000-meter course in 26 minutes, 17.44 seconds to finish 14th overall. The senior's top 15 finish earns him Third Team All-Conference honors, his first ever All-Conference award in the sport of cross country.

"It was a real treat to welcome all the conference schools back to the Meadows Disc Golf Course for the 2025 NWC Championships. I think all of our student-athletes were keen to show up and represent on their home course," said Head Coach Francis Reynolds.

"I was really proud of Kai for putting himself in a position to be successful today. He was always somewhere in the top 20, and managed to fight for a 14th place finish and a third team all-conference performance. I was also proud of our middle pack of guys for running together and helping each other out on the very difficult course. A final shout out to senior Jonathan Ochoa who ran more than a minute faster than he did six weeks ago on the same course. What a way to cap in his collegiate cross-country career!"

PLU's next four runners all finished within 22 seconds of each other with Daniel Zimmer pacing the pack, finishing 58th overall in 28:39.57. Corder Janes was 61st in 28:56.05 while Justin Garrett and Isaiah Bradley placed back-to-back. Garrett was 64th in 29:02.42 with Bradley a split second back in 65th with a time of 29:02.54. 

Noah Friedrich was 69th in 29:39.33 with Jonah Aadrews 72nd after entering the finisher's chute in 30:10.36. 

Pacific Lutheran finished eighth in the team standings, securing 220 points and placing 52 points ahead of ninth place Linfield University. George Fox University successfully defended its crown, winning the team title with 37 points while Whitworth University took second billing with a score of 77. Willamette University and Lewis & Clark College rounded out the top four, scoring 92 and 102 points, respectively. Whitman College was fifth (120 points), followed by University of Puget Sound (148 points) and Pacific University (152 points).

Puget Sound's Cian Monaghan won the individual title, looping the course in 25:16.16, securing a five-second victory over the rest of the field. 

The Lutes take next Saturday off before racing at the NCAA Division III West Region Championships on Nov. 15 in Claremont, California.