Women's Race Results
Men's Race Results
EUGENE, Ore. – Even without the services of one of their top runners the Northwest Christian University women’s cross country team, ranked no. 17 in the NAIA, had an impressive outing on Saturday taking second place in the Pier Park Invitational, hosted by the University of Portland.
Senior Brittany Petersen (pictured) made the loudest statement, blasting away her own school record with a third-place time of 17:37. Head Coach Heike McNeil said, “Britt ran a smart and strong race. It was a strong field and she hung in at the back of the lead pack and then pushed into third.”
Petersen’s former school record of 18:12 was also passed by freshman Ally Manley, who posted the best debut performance in school history at 17:48, good for sixth place. “We knew she could run,” said McNeil, “but we didn’t expect her to lead the first half of the race. She hung in well despite starting off too quick and she fought until the very end.”
Another pair of veterans followed and both hit personal records. Sophomore Ashley Kinney took 19th place at 19:30 and was followed closely in 20th by junior Sierra Schorer-Noll at 19:32. Sophomore Heidi Gori, a transfer from UP, rounded out the scoring at 19:55, taking 24th place.
Also running for the Beacons were freshman Allison Duvenez (20:14, 30th) senior Riley Swanson (20:48, 35th) and freshman Anita Fernandez (36th, 21:06).
NCU was without the service of senior Stephanie Hescock for the first week. The two-time NAIA qualifier and reigning Northwest Christian University Female Athlete of the Year is recovering from off-season surgery and is expected to be back next Saturday when the Beacons run in the Cascade Conference Preview in Ashland.
On the men's side, Northwest Christian University’s season-opening appearance in the Pier Park Invitational was truncated from 8,000 meters to a 6K race on Saturday morning as the northern Oregon forest fires were wreaking havoc on air quality and temperatures were approaching 90 degrees at race time.
The Beacons took sixth place in the event and were led by freshman Nick Lopez, stepping up to take eighth place with a time of 19:38, trailing six Division I runners. Head Coach Heike McNeil said, “Nick ran a fantastic race. He started fast and held, which was very exciting.”
Next in line was sophomore Crosby Green, who took 22nd place with a mark of 20:37. Senior Jeremy Aucoin followed at 20:57, taking 28th place. “Jeremy had a breakthrough during the last track season and it’s good to see him carry that into cross country,” said McNeil.
The final two scoring runners were Michael Bellamy in 31st (21:04) and Michael Bennett in 43rd (22:05).
Also running for NCU and making their collegiate cross country debuts were freshman Guillermo Torres-Sanchez (44th, 22:13), sophomore Michael Gonzales (49th, 22:44) and senior Matt Trevorrow (52nd, 23:31).
The Beacons season will continue next Saturday when they run in Southern Oregon University’s CCC Championship Preview in Ashland.