INDEPENDENCE -- The Pacific men's and women's cross country teams raced at the Northwest Conference Championships on Saturday. Hosted by Willamette University at Oak Knoll Golf Course, the Boxers put up a hard fought effort against the best in the conference. The women finished with a point total of 172, only 4 points behind Pacific Lutheran which was good for 8th. The men had a total of 206 points, also placing 8th, which was an improvement from last year. 

"We had so many good performances across the board," Pacific head coach Christine Eckstein said. "Our ladies team got struck with some tough blows as two of our women got injured earlier in the season, so we had to really be mindful and careful on how hard we pushed throughout the season. They did an amazing job pulling each other along and taking care of their bodies. We saw almost the entire women's team either PR, get a season's best or were close to a PR. I'm very proud of how hard these ladies fought today." 

Megan Feitz led the Pacific women, placing 8th overall and earning Second Team All-Conference. The junior from California was only .07 off from finishing 7th and earning First Team All-Conference. Feitz also had a big personal record coming across the line in 22 minutes, 38.8 seconds, which now moves her into 9th on the Pacific University All-Time Women's 6k List.

Senior Cris Brethower ran tough and got a season's best time of 23:08.7 to finish 19th. Sophomore Morgan Boddy had a breakthrough performance and went sub 25 minutes for the first time in her career, crossing the line in 24:53.6 to place 48th overall. Junior Alena Krull took a fall during the race and was able to gut it out, coming through in a time of 24:58.7, which placed her just behind her teammate in 51st place.

Freshman Lauren Ortega remained consistent with her time, finishing in 26:10.2, which was only 7 seconds off her personal record. The freshman from Silverton placed 64th. In one of the most gritty performances of the day, sophomore Jordan Lucero crossed the line in 66th place in a time of 26:18.9 after dealing with an injury for the past week.

Freshman Peyton Fisher had a stellar performance trimming 30 seconds off his previous personal best and placing 29th overall with a time of 26:12.7. Fisher's mark puts him on the Pacific University All-Time Men's 8k list at number 25. After the meet concluded, Fisher was awarded the NWC Men's Rookie of the Year honor.

Freshman Jacob Tilden has remained consistent through the last four races with another solid time of 26:46.7. With a very gutsy race, Tilden finished in 44th place. Senior Reese Yamamoto had another solid competition, crossing the line in 27:24.7, which was good for 51st place. With the help of his teammate Yamamoto, freshman Robert Lydon broke through some mental barriers to hang on to 52nd place in a time of 27:26.8.

Continuing on his amazing senior season, Kadyn Eves nearly broke his personal record running a time of 27:51.9, which was only 3 seconds away. Eves placed 56th overall. Freshman Tate Woodward finished the race in a time of 28:06.3 and placed 63rd. Only 3 seconds off his season's best, senior Carlos Masuko completed the race in 28:36.5 which placed him at 67th. Sophomore Kyle Woodcock caps off his season with a new personal record by 16 seconds, crossing the line in 28:38.0 which was good for 68th place. Freshman Jett Cowee was close behind, finishing in 70th place with a time of 29:01.7. Rounding out the conference team was Freshman Noah Wakabayashi who placed 73rd in a time of 29:44.8.

"The men had some very impressive performances as well. With Peyton earning NWC Rookie of the Year, RJ breaking through some mental barriers, Jacob stayed consistent, and a huge push from our 3 senior guys, Reese, Kadyn, and Carlos, it really helped our young guys navigate through their first conference championships. I'm disappointed with how the team results played out as I was confident we could move up. As frustrating as that is, I'm confident and excited to see how well we can race at our regional meet in 2 weeks. "

Up Next: The Boxers cross country teams head to the NCAA West Regional Championships at Milo McIver State Park in Estacada, Oregon on Saturday November 16th. Start times for the women's 6k is 10:00 a.m. and the men race at 11:00 a.m.

For the latest information on Pacific Athletics, make sure to check out GoBoxers.com. You can also find the Boxers on social media at @GoBoxers on Instagram and Twitter.
 
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