Eagles Open Season at Sundodger

9/19/2015 2:08:32 PM

SEATTLE, Wash. – 488 men’s and women’s cross country teams converged upon Lincoln Park Saturday morning for the annual University of Washington Sundodger Invitational. The NU men and women were well represented and produced solid results for the first meet of the season.

The women were represented by Sarah Estabrook and Shandon Lystad in the women’s open division as one of the only NAIA schools among a solid core of NCAA Division I, II and III teams. Estabrook ran the 6k distance in 23:09.25, finishing 69^th in the field while Lystad ran a 25:36.35 in the race with 218 entrants.

Said Coach Mark Mandi after the race, “On the ladies' side, we raced Sarah Estabrook and Shandon Lystad while holding out the rest of the team until the Charles Bowles Invitational in two weeks. It was still a good day to go out and compete for those two and they made the most of it. For both, we left knowing that there were several areas to improve on and I’m confident that their best races will be at the end of the season. I'm excited to see our full squad compete in a few weeks.”
 
The Eagle men finished 16^th in a field of 26 teams and 270 runners entered in the 8k race. Jonathan Ferguson was the top NU finisher coming in 62^nd with a time of 25:56.89. Teammate Kyle Cole was right behind him in 63^rd place as he ran the course in 25:56.95. First year runner, Rafael Lara, finished 112^th with a time of 26:48.69 while Brian Guisinger ran a personal best time of 27:29.89. Dean Willis came in at 28:16.14; Brandon Deshazer, 28:24.04; Logan Griffis, 28:26.91; and Caleb Smith, 29:17.06.
 
“I thought the race today was a really strong start to the guys' season,” commented Coach Mandi. “We've added a lot of new people and the group as a whole has been learning to train together, so to come out and run as well as they did shows that this team has a lot of potential down the road. Kyle and Jonathan led the team as strong front runners, which really helped establish a strong team performance. Newcomer Ralphy Lara battled through his first 8k to finish 3rd on the team and sophomore Brian Guisinger had his best cross country race ever  to run a huge PR and finish as the number 4 runner. As a whole team, this was the strongest performance that NU has had in years. The fact that there is a lot to improve on leads me to believe that this could be a very memorable season for us.”

The Eagles will compete in the Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational in Salem, Ore., on Saturday, October 3. Meet time is set for 9:30 a.m.