Results
SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — The Pacific Lutheran University women's cross country squad got its first taste of the NCAA West Region Championship race course on Saturday, placing 14th overall as a team at Whitworth University's Frank Knott Classic.
Mariel Robles led the Lutes, navigating the 6,000-meter course in a personal best time of 24 minutes, 38.7 seconds to place 101st overall and 78th among scoring runners.
Ellie Norris was four spots back in 105th, crossing the tape in 24:48.3 with
Jessalyn Robles a few seconds back in 106th with a season-best time of 24:53.3.
Rachel Rosario and
Natalie Moran-Padilla rounded out PLU's scoring five, finishing back-to-back in 124th and 125th overall. Rosario clocked a personal best effort of 25:21.5 while Moran-Padilla bagged a season best time of 25:21.7.
Piper Gannon finished in a season-best time of 26:08.9 while
Della Mearig crossed the finish in 26:41.9.
"Another great day of racing. The Course is a fantastic venue, and we look forward to coming back here. We were excited to face all but one of the NWC teams and see how we stacked up four weeks out from the conference championships," said Head Coach
Francis Reynolds.
"Despite missing two of our top runners, we were really pleased with how we ran. The pack running was great and they ran hard to make up for our missing scorers. We were encouraged by Mariel's performance today, as well as Rachel's second straight meet with a personal best. We are tracking for a really good showing at the conference meet!"
Missing two of the squad's top runners, the Lutes finished 14th overall with 428 points, tying Northwest Conference rival Linfield University. PLU was just 11 points behind Whitman College and placed ahead of both University of La Verne and conference mate Lewis & Clark College.
Four Division I squads competed at the meet with Montana State University winning the team title with a perfect score of 15. The Bobcats' Claire Rutherford won the race in 20:50.2.
PLU will return to The Course in Spokane Valley on Nov. 14 for the NCAA West Region meet. The Lutes will race in their final meet before the NWC Championships in two weeks, lacing up the spikes for the George Oja Invitational in Independence, Oregon on Oct. 17.
