Lutes to Run at Puget Sound Invitational

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran at the University of Puget Sound Invitational, Fort Steilacoom Park, 10 a.m.

LUTES RUN AT UPS INVITATIONAL: Pacific Lutheran stays in the area this week for the Puget Sound Invitational at Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood. The women's 6000-meter race starts at 10 a.m. and will be followed by the men's 8000-meter race at 11 a.m.

ABOUT THE COURSE: In the "good old days," Pacific Lutheran hosted its annual PLU Invitational at Fort Steilacoom Park. The layout for the Puget Sound Invitational is different from the old PLU course, but the hill that challenged past PLU runners is also a part of this year's course and will certainly provide a difficulty for the Lutes and other runners.

LUTES SWEEP PLU INVITATIONAL TITLES: Pacific Lutheran proved to be a stingy host last Saturday, sweeping both the men's and women's titles at the PLU Invitational held on University Golf Course. In the men's race, Pacific Lutheran scored 31 points, followed by a PLU Alumni group that finished second with 45 points. Pacific (Ore.) was third with 63 points, followed by Puget Sound with 109 and Green River College with 124. Clark College competed but did not have enough runners to score team points. On the women's side, the Lutes scored 34 points followed by Pacific (Ore.) with 48, Puget Sound 71 and Clark College 74. Green River College competed but didn't have enough runners for a team score.

MEN'S MEET NOTES: Lutes alum Destry Johnson won the men's 8000-meter race in a time of 25:47.15. Johnson and fellow alums Lance Thompson, Floyd Bangerter and Pat Dill all finished in the top 14. Leading the charge for the Lutes was John Phillips, fifth overall in a time of 27:10.59. Sean Andrascik placed seventh in 27:24.55, while Orion Bras was 10th overall in 27:43.74. Barrett Bollen placed 15th in a time of 28:00.85, with teammates Justin Barth (28:04.76) and Anthony Horton (28:11.52) right behind him.

WOMEN'S MEET NOTES: Kelsey Owens, a Pacific (Ore.) graduate competing unattached, ran by herself most of the way and easily won the 6000-meter race in a time of 22:20.16. Clark's Brittany Henderson was second in 23:19.43, followed by PLU's Suzy Olsen in 23:31.04. Rounding out the top five were Amanda Basham from Pacific (Ore.), fourth in 23:34.17, and Brandi Eloff from Clark, fifth in 23:45.81. Katie Gebert was the third PLU female runner across the finish line, placing ninth in a time of 24:10.43, followed by Erica Johnson, 12th in 24:48.28, and Kayley Turner, 14th in 24:55.38.

IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME: For the first time in many years, Pacific Lutheran runners earned Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week honors in cross country. John Phillips and Suzy Olsen were picked after placing fifth and third respectively at the PLU Invitational. The last PLU male to win the conference award prior to Phillips was Floyd Bangerter, who received the honor on Oct. 13, 2002, after finishing first among a field of 169 runners at the PLU Invitational. Prior to Olsen, the last PLU female to receive the conference award was Lia Ossiander, that on Oct. 7, 2001. Ossiander was honored after placing 20th among a field of 388 competitors at the Willamette Invitational.

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