EUGENE, Ore. - The Northwest Christian University cross country teams opened the season on Thursday and the women got out of the gates quickly, piling up seven personal records among their nine racers at the Oregon Preview meet at Alton Baker Park.
Senior
Cass Brownell (pictured) almost took a full minute off of her personal record, leading the team as she came across the finish line in 17
th place, hitting 18 minutes and three seconds. The top collegiate finisher outside of NCAA Division I powers Oregon and University of Portland, Brownell cleared her former personal record by 56 seconds.
Junior
Anika Rasubala also posted a career-best time of 18:12, taking 19
th place as she led a four-runner pack from NCU that took the next three scoring positions.
PR’s became a theme as more women crossed the line. Senior
Emily Moon hit her own best time at 18:48 in 20
th while sophomore
Moriah Duenich cleared a career best 19:09 in 22
nd. Sandwiched in the middle was senior
Melissa Rios with an 18:50, her best time since her freshman season.
Junior
Madeleine Rosebrook finished 30
th for the Beacons (20:29, PR) and was followed by
Bri Jury at 21:03. Freshmen
Tea Chatelain and
Jasmine Lay made their NCU debuts, coming in 32
nd and 33
rd respectively.
In the team race, NCU took third place, scoring 80 points. Portland edge out Oregon for the victory, 28-29. Lane Community College was fourth with 105 points.
On the men's side the Beacons competed in a 7000m race for the first time in school history. Sophomore
Jacob Truitt led the way for the Beacons, taking 18
th place with a time of 22:43. Senior
Conner Covey followed in 24
th (23:07) and
Carson Bain was 26
th (23:30). Rounding out the scoring were
Andy Martinez (29
th, 23:44) and
Isaac Sanchez (23:56).
Also running for the Beacons were
Dan Carrier (32
nd, 24:15),
Jacob Lackey (38
th, 25:33) and
Diego Delaplane (41
st, 25:59).
As a team, NCU took fourth place with 95 points to finish closely behind Lane Community College (82). The University of Oregon took five of the top-seven scoring spots to win the race with 19 points. The University of Portland was second with 36.
The Beacons will return to the standard 8000m distance in two weeks when the teams head north to Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah, Washington for the Cascade Collegiate Conference preview meet on September 21.
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