Results
TACOMA, Wash. — Ellie Norris paced the Lutes for the second consecutive meet, powering the Pacific Lutheran University women's cross country squad to a 12th place finish on home turf on Saturday at the PLU Invitational.
Competing at the 6,000-meter for the first time as a collegian, Norris navigated the three loop layout at PLU Meadows in 23 minutes, 29.1 seconds, placing 45th overall as the top Lute finisher.
Sal Mattivi charged into the finisher's chute in 24:27.5, good for 71st overall with
Mariel Robles close behind in 83rd in 25:02.1.
Rachel Rosario was 96th in a personal best 25:36.5 with
Natalie Moran-Padilla rounding out the scoring five in 103th after crossing the line in 25:52.4.
Della Mearig clocked a time of 25:59.2 in her first 6K with
Jessalyn Robles stopping the clock in 26:00.8.
"What a great day of racing on the home course! I love welcoming schools to Parkland and representing PLU athletics. It was also great to get our first true distance races under our belts," said Head Coach
Francis Reynolds.
"I was excited to see what Ellie could run in her first race at that distance. She fared well and was able to be competitive with veteran runners in the conference. I think how she ran and the time she ran bode well for the rest of the season as she gets more experience running that distance. I was really excited by Mariel's race, as she boldly pushed herself to a near PR in less than ideal conditions. Again, I think this race can be a springboard for her to run much faster as we head into October. I also want to shout out Rachel, who, again, in less than ideal conditions, set a personal best time. Her fitness has improved a ton in the last month, and I am eager to see where she'll be in six weeks for the conference championships. We had a couple of illnesses preventing us from running at full strength, but I am really encouraged that we still managed to beat two conference teams who were picked to beat us in the preseason polls."
Pacific Lutheran scored 290 points, placing 12th overall and finishing four points shy of Division II Saint Martin's University. The Lutes were six points ahead of Northwest Conference rival Lewis & Clark College and enjoyed a 37-point buffer on Whitman College.
The Evergreen State College's Alauna Carstens won the race, speeding around the looped course in 20:50.9.
"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 back in action on Oct. 3, trekking across the state to Spokane Valley for Whitworth University's Frank Knott Classic.
