Results

LAKEWOOD, Wash. - The Pacific Lutheran University men's cross country team placed two runners inside the top 10 on Saturday, including a fourth place showing from Kai Sorensen, opening the lid on the season at the Puget Sound Invitational at Fort Steilacoom Park.

"It was a perfect morning for busting the rust on the cross country season! Even though the races were under the normal distances, I wanted to see how the runners competed and where they were in their fitness coming off of summer training," said Head Coach Francis Reynolds.

"I was excited by the men's performances, as three of our first six runners were freshmen and almost all of the team set cross-country 5K PR's. There were also very natural groupings which will serve us well in our team training in the weeks ahead."

Sorensen paced the Lutes, navigating the 5,000-meter course in a personal best effort of 15 minutes, 56.2 seconds to secure fourth overall and third amongst Division III competitors in the field. Noah Friedrich was 10th in a personal best time of 16:18.1 while Isaiah Bradley cracked the top 20 in his Lute debut, crossing the tape in 16:57.4 to secure 17th overall.

Fellow first-year Corder Janes was four spots back in 21st in 17:14.0 while Daniel Zimmer was the fifth Lute in the top 25, placing 25th in 17:20.8.

Justin Garrett was 28th in 17:27.4 in his first collegiate race while Jonah Andrews and Corban Piper finished back-to-back in 45th and 46th place, respectively. Both finished in personal record times with Andrews entering the finisher's chute in 18:18.8 while Piper stopped the clock in 18:22.4.

Pacific Lutheran finished one point out of second place in the team standings, finishing with a score of 66. Green River College was second with 65 points while Everett Community College was one point behind the Lutes in fourth with 67 points. Host University of Puget Sound won the team title with 29 points.

Puget Sound's Cian Monaghan won top individual honors, traversing the course in 15:20.3.

The Lutes are back in action on Saturday, Sept. 20, hosting the PLU Invitational.