PARKLAND, Wash. – London Haley won the men's race as Whitworth's cross country teams posted strong runner-up finishes on Saturday at the Pacific Lutheran Invitational in their first competition of the season against primarily small college opponents.
The only team to defeat the Pirate women was defending Northwest Conference champion George Fox. All NWC schools were present at the meet as PLU will host the 2025 conference championships on the same course.
Ashlyn Dary finished sixth for Whitworth, while Lily Jones was seventh. They scored five and six points, respectively, and covered the six-kilometer course in 22:54.5 and 22:55.7. Evergreen State's Alauna Carstens won the race with a time of 21:19.9.
Kezlie Thygesen gave the Bucs three top-ten finishers with a 10th place finish in 23:11.5. Bethany Doggett was 17th in 23:47.5 and Madison Frazier was 24th.
The final women's team scores were: George Fox 38, Whitworth 57, Pacific (Ore.) 89, Puget Sound 133, Willamette 159, Central Washington 159, Evergreen State 173, Whitman 176, Lewis & Clark 233, Pacific Lutheran 248, Everett CC 286. Linfield did not field a complete team.
Haley crossed the men's finish line first, covering the eight-kilometer course in 24:54.6. He defeated Whitman's Jack McManus by eight seconds.
The Pirate men had a similar result as the women, tying with Lewis & Clark for second place behind defending NWC champion GFU. The final men's team scores were: GFU 53, Whitworth and Lewis & Clark 103, Whitman 110, Willamette 161, Puget Sound 204, Pacific (Ore.) 209, Evergreen State 226, Pacific Lutheran 242, Everett CC 284, Clark CC 352. Linfield did not field a complete team.
Isaac Akiyama was eighth in 25:48.7. Nolan McLaughlin (27:01.6) was 39th, Alex McIntyre (27:07.9) was 40th and Jeremiah Shahbaz (27:12.2) was 43rd for the Bucs.
The Pirate teams will return to action on October 4th at the Whitman Invitational.
