Results

ESTACADA, Ore. —  Ellie Norris made her collegiate debut in style, leading the Pacific Lutheran University women's cross country team to a third place showing at the Lewis & Clark Opener on Friday at McIver State Park. 

Norris navigated the 5,000-meter layout in 20 minutes, 14.2 seconds, placing 18th overall. Sal Mattivi and Mariel Robles finished back-to-back, both sneaking into the top 25. Mattivi finished in 21:06.4 with Robles clocking a time of personal best time of 21:13.5. 
 
"It's always exciting to get the season officially kicked off with the first race. For me, it's the first real indicator of fitness coming off summer training. I know there was some uncertainty from both teams about how they would stack up against our competition, but I was pleased with the efforts," said Head Coach Francis Reynolds.

Rachel Rosario led a second pack of Lutes, placing 30th in 21:37.8 with Natalie Moran-Padilla (21:42.0), Della Mearig (21:46.9), and Jessalyn Robles (21:47.4) finishing right behind in 31st through 33rd places. 

"It was great to see Ellie debut as our top finisher. I'm excited to see her development this season and how she will respond to the 6K distance. Mariel had a really solid race and is gaining more confidence with every race she runs. We also had good pack running to round out our scoring." 

Pacific Lutheran scored 104 points in the team standings, finishing third overall and owning a one-point edge on host Lewis & Clark College. Lewis-Clark State College won the meet with 26 points with Division I Portland State University runner-up with a score of 30.
 
LCSC's Damaris Kibiwot won top individual honors, finishing the race in 18:09.8.
 
"I'm excited to put in a couple of weeks of good training and really show out at the PLU Invitational in two weeks."
 
The Lutes are off next weekend before hosting the annual PLU Invitational on Sept. 19.