Portland, Ore. – Today the Boxers men and women's cross country teams raced in the Viking Rust Buster meet, hosted by Portland State University at Westmoreland Park in Portland. The Boxers took on Division I runners from Portland State University, University of Portland and University of Oregon.
The Boxers raced half of their squad on Wednesday at the Lewis and Clark Chase Race, and the rest of the squad raced today at the Viking Rust Buster. For the men's 6k race,
Riley Stewart was the first Boxer to cross the line in 14
th place, with a time of 19:10.4 – a significant PR for Stewart over 6k. Stewart is the current school record holder for the indoor mile run. Sophomore
Erik Maack came through the line right behind Stewart in 17
th place with a time of 19:23.9; this was Maack's first collegiate cross country race. Rounding out the Boxer's top three was
Will Neal, with his 21
st place finish and time of 19:43.9.
For the women's 4k race,
Annie Berry led the charge. Berry was the first Boxer to cross the line with her 27
th place finish and time of 14:54.8. This was Berry's first collegiate race. Last spring, Berry scored points for the Boxers in the NWC Track & Field championships in both the 1500m and the 5k. Right behind Berry was senior
Kara Putman, who made up a ton of ground in the middle-third of the race to finish in 29
th place with a time of 15:04.5. Last spring on the track, Putman was runner-up in the NWC Track & Field Championship 10k race. Rounding out the Boxer's top three was senior Abby Klein, who came to Pacific this fall as a graduate student after finishing her undergraduate degree as U.C. Santa Cruz, where she also competed in cross country and track & field. In her first race for the Boxers, Klein took 37
th place with a time of 15:26.2.
The Boxers toe the line again on Saturday, September 18 in Tacoma, Washington for the PLU Invite. Both teams will race full-distance, that is, the same distance as the conference and NCAA championship races, with the women racing 6k and the men racing 8k.
