Results

TACOMA, Wash. — Noah Friedrich led the charge for the Lutes on home turf, helping the Pacific Lutheran University men's cross country team finish seventh overall at the PLU Invitational against a field of teams from both NCAA Divisions II and III.

Friedrich set the pace for the Lutes, making the loops around the course at PLU Meadows in 27 minutes, 35.7 seconds to place 59th overall. 

Isaiah Bradley was the next Lute across the finish line, clocking a time of 28:22.9 to snag 74th overall, edging out a runner from Division II Saint Martin's University by 0.4 seconds.

Corban Piper was in hot pursuit, crossing the line 77th in 28:35.9 with Justin Garrett placing 80th with a 28:52.4. Jonah Andrews and Caleb Rigney rounded out the Lutes runners, finishing back-to-back in 89th and 90th places. Andrews stopped the clock in 29:34.2 with Rigney registering a personal best time of 29:46.5.

"What a great day of racing on the home course! I love welcoming schools to Parkland and representing PLU athletics and It was great to get our first true distance races under our belts," said Head Coach Francis Reynolds. 

"Our men ran hard in what was a mini-conference preview meet. Noah is always a reliable low stick and I'm glad he ran his fastest time on this course in his final PLU Invitational. Isaiah ran one of the smartest races that I've seen him run as a Lute, and I think he's honing in on how to best run an 8K. Corban ran tough, despite a rolled ankle early in the race, and came within six seconds of his PR. I know that he is prime to pop a big personal best in a couple of weeks. And one of the best performances of the day was Caleb, who, by training really hard over the summer, ran 3 1/2 minutes faster than he did at this meet last year. Super cool to see!"

PLU finished seventh overall with 221 points in a field featuring six of the eight Northwest Conference schools.

"I'm looking forward to another two weeks of training and getting after it again at the Frank Knott Classic in Spokane Valley on October 3."
 
The Lutes are off next weekend before racing in Spokane Valley at Whitworth University's Frank Knott Classic.