YAKIMA – Northwest placed third, led by a sixth-place finish by Micah Murphy when the Eagles opened the men's cross country season on Saturday at the Central Washington Invitational.
 
Competing at Apple Ridge Run in Yakima, the Eagles had a score of 78 to finish just three points behind the host Wildcats. Western Washington won with a perfect score of 15.
 
Murphy led the Eagles at 19:26.7 on the six-kilometer course. Dawson Andrews was eighth at 19:35.9.
 
Cameron Nielsen placed 12^th in 19:47.9. Jarron Ransford was 38^th at 21.45, and Jack Kopatich rounded out the scoring for NU in 46^th place in 22:47.
 
"It's nice to have a meet under our belt," said NU Head Coach Mark Mandi. "I thought we had a good first race. Micah, Dawson, and Cam did a great job leading this team out there, not just during the race but also during warmups and cooldowns. We have a really young group, so they were able to use their experience to get the guys set for future races."
 
Also for Northwest, Ryan Slupski placed 52^nd at 24:10.3, and Scott Baisden was 53^rd at 2438.8.
 
"Our young guys competed well, and any college race is going to be really valuable for their development," Mandi said. "Overall, we are really pleased with the direction we are headed, and we look forward to racing our full squad in the weeks to come."
 
NU next competes at the Ken Garland Classic in Lacey on Sept. 24.