Results

PARKLAND, Wash. - As has been the case all season, Stephenie Spencer and Steve Allen paced Pacific runners and also finished among the conference's best on Saturday at the Northwest Conference Cross Country Championships on the campus of Pacific Lutheran University.

Spencer crossed the line sixth overall with a time of 23:15 over the six kilometer course and earned first team honors. Allen raced to a 13th place finish with a time of 27:09 on the eight kilometer track to receive a second team certificate.

The race was run in difficult conditions--wet, muddy and windy.

"Steven and Stephenie ran great in very tough and adverse conditions," said Boxer head coach Matt Lydum. "I believe that despite those conditions, many of our runners set personal bests. That was our goal this fall, to get stronger and race better instead of breaking down as the season went on. I was very pleased with our effort and results today."

The Pacific women finished eighth overall in the team standings and the Boxer men were ninth.

Willamette had the top two place winners on the women's side, but finished second in the team standings to Whitworth. The Pirates had 31 points, the Bearcats 46. Olivia Manci won the race in 22:20 with teammate Taylor Ostrander 20 seconds behind her in 22:40. For Spencer, her position in sixth was secure as there was a healthy gap on each side of her in fifth and seventh place. Jess Knoll was Pacific's next finisher in 43rd place in 25:23.

On the men's side, Willamette convincingly win the team title with 31 points, followed by Puget Sound with 77. Winning the individual crown for the second year in a row was the Loggers' Tyler Shipley, who ran in Boxer gear last year. Shipley won the race by 16 seconds in a time of 25:48. After Allen's finish, Logan Naegeli was Pacific's next runner to finish in 59th with a clocking of 29:15.

Next for the Boxers is the NCAA Division III West Region Championships on November 14 in Claremont, Calif.