COLFAX, WA - The Northwest University men's cross country team took on a challenge this weekend, participating in the Cougar Classic on Friday, September 15.

NU placed sixth out of six teams in the 8k, trailing close behind three Division I schools.

Micah Murphy finished 22nd at 25:10.6 out of 76 runners. Cameron Nielsen placed 40th at 26:08.1 and Tyrell Bonner 45th with a 26:09.1 time.  

Complete race results for the Cougar Classic can be found here.

PARKLAND, WA - The Northwest University men's and women's cross country teams competed in the Pacific Lutheran University Invitational this morning 

The men finished eight out of 13 teams in the 8k. Micah Murphy led the Eagles with an individual time of 25:10.6 placing fifth out of 128 participants. Tyrell Bonner finished 25th at 26:14.2. 

The women finished 10th out of 11 teams in the 6k. Kaylea Hartman finished with a time of 23:48.1, placing 20th out of 95 runners. The next Eagle to cross the finish line was Rachel Elliot at 25:46.0. 

Complete race results for the PLU Invitational can be found here.

Head Coach Mark Mandi says, "On the men's side, we had a busy weekend as they competed at the Cougar Classic on Friday and then came back to run at the PLU Invitational today. We haven't done that before but it was a great opportunity for our men's team to go up against some really good teams in Colfax and then get more good work in at PLU. At the Cougar Classic, Micah helped lead our men to a close finish behind NAIA #14 Lewis-Clark State College. A highlight for the PLU meet was when four of the guys helped Trevor Blair run a massive personal record for 8k. The sacrifice and servant heart Jarron, Gavin, Jack, and Kai showed out there was inspiring to see and Trevor responded to that by giving it his best effort which paid off in a big way." 

"On the women's side, we are continuing to put together a solid block of training and learning from race experiences like today at the PLU Invite. I thought they ran with patience and poise and it showed with how strong they looked in the last part of the race. The 6k distance is still new to most of our team, but getting this race in will be beneficial down later in the season since 6k is the new championship race distance."

Both teams will be competing in the Charles Bowles Invitational in Salem, OR, on September 30.