PORTLAND Ore.—Sophomore Marcus Nelson and senior Alice Taylor placed third overall in their respective races to lead the Concordia men’s and women’s cross country teams at the CU/Puma XC Classic held at Fernhill Park on Saturday morning.

 

Nelson (San Diego, Calif./West Hills H.S.) covered the 8,000-meter course in 24:50.4 to help the CU men’s team to a runner-up result with a team score of 48 points. Taylor (Auckland, New Zealand) crossed in 17:33.3 for 5,000 meters to boost the Cavs to a third-place finish with 75 points.

 

With a 24:32.9, Victoria’s Matt Pieterson took gold in the men’s race by 15 seconds over Simon Fraser’s Ryan Brockerville (24:47.5). Nelson was closely followed by teammate Cory Pena, who toured the course in 25:00.4 for fourth place while British Columbia’s Luc Bruchet rounded out the top five with a 25:01.9.

 

UBC, ranked No. 6 in the NAIA, took the men’s team chase with 42 points, six points ahead of No. 31-ranked Concordia. Simon Fraser, ranked No. 21 in the latest NAIA poll, finished in third place with 63 points.

 

UBC placed all five scorers inside the top 12 finishers while CU had its top five all finish inside the top 20. Trailing Nelson and Pena were Cordero Cisneros (Grandview, Wash./Grandview H.S.) in 11th place with a 25:43.4, Derek Woolsey (Everett, Wash./Henry M. Jackson H.S.) in 15th place with a 25:57.5 and Dylan Zitzer (Dillon, Mont./Beaverhead County H.S.) in 17th place with a 25:59.8.

 

On the women’s side, fourth-ranked Simon Fraser controlled the field with a near-minimum 20-point score. The Clan had five of the first seven finishers while all seven competitors crossed within the top 13.

 

No. 11-ranked British Columbia finished in second place with 66 points while No. 19 Concordia followed in third place with 75 points.

 

The Simon Fraser duo of Jessica Smith and Angela Shaw captured the top two spots with Smith cruising to an individual championship in 17:24.6 and Shaw taking silver with a 17:31.6.

 

Lauren Moran (Lake Stevens, Wash./Archbishop Murphy) concluded her race as CU’s second runner with an 18:21.3 for 14th place while Junia Limage (Vancouver, Wash./Fort Vancouver H.S.) crossed in 18:33.3 for 18th place and Andria Scheese (Oregon City, Ore./Oregon City H.S.) finished in 18:41.8 for 24th place to form the top four for the Cavs.

 

Maggie Pesanti (Missoula, Mont./Hellgate H.S.) broke the 20-minute barrier with plenty of time to spare as the senior crossed in 19:33.3 for 42nd place as the team’s final scorer.

 

The Cavaliers return to action on Nov. 6 when it travels to Klamath Falls, Oregon for the Cascade Collegiate Conference Championships before hosting the NAIA National Championships at Ft. Vancouver on Nov. 20.