Race Results

SEATTLE - The Northwest Nazarene University cross country teams finished fourth and fifth in the Open Division races at the 2009 Sundodger Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, hosted by the University of Washington at Lincoln Park in Seattle.

 

Barak Watson paced the men's team with a second-place finish in 24:52.85 over the 8-kilometer course, while Jaclyn Puga finished 11th on the women's side with a time of 22:12.85 over the 6-kilometer women's route. Watson's runner-up was only .51 seconds behind winner Amos Maru from The Academy of Art University.  The NNU men finished fourth in a field of 20, while the women were fifth in a field of 18.

 

"The goal with both teams was a top-five finish, so we were pleased with our results," commented NNU assistant coach Ben Gall.  "Today's time was the fastest our women have ever run on this course, so that is encouraging.  I think we could have run a little better on the men's side, but we want to keep building, so it gives us a target to work toward."

 

Matt Stark finished behind Watson in 17th-place with a time of 25:33.06, Matt Rankin was 30th with 25:58.91, Kyle Gray finished 53rd in 26:33.93, and Jesse Baggenstos was 59th in 26:37.17 to complete the point-scoring finishes for the Crusaders.

 

Jordan Powell was second for the NNU women, finishing 27th with 22:55.35, Michelle Phillips was 36th in 23:11.09, Elisa Decker was 42nd with 23:26.36, and Christine Harwood placed 48th in 23:35.55 to round-out the scoring for the Lady Crusaders.

 

Also competing for the men's team were Luke Hetrick (61st, 26:40.95), Bernard Ngeno (72nd, 26:54.10), Seth Clark (77th, 26:57.97), and Alex Crystal (109th, 27:34.79).

 

NNU women's team members included Ashley Rendahl (78th, 24:10.73), Meagan Swenson (147th, 25:44.82), Sam Hill (164th, 26:20.96), and Danielle Beesley (26:25.84).

 

The Open Division women's race featured 202 student-athletes from 20 college teams from across the Northwest, including GNAC members Alaska Anchorage (1st), Saint Martin's (14th), Central Washington (15th), and Western Washington (16th).

 

The men's Open Division race featured 211 participants with GNAC members Saint Martin's (9th), Western Washington (10th), Seattle Pacific (11th), and Central Washington (14th) among the 19 other schools.