TACOMA, Wash. – Northwest University cross country opened the 2026 season with a strong showing at the Puget Sound Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 12. The NU men captured the team title, while Josiah Jaquith won the individual race and set a new Northwest University 5K school record.

Jaquith led the Eagles with a winning time of 14:59.4, breaking the previous NU 5K school record. He finished nearly 19 seconds ahead of the next collegiate runner.

Levi Nichols followed in fourth with a time of 15:29.8, while Will Lanser placed sixth at 15:34.8 and Andres Bustamante finished seventh in 15:40.9. Kai Ushikubo rounded out the Eagles' scoring five with an 18th-place finish at 16:11.3.

Northwest scored 31 points to win the men's team competition, with four Eagles finishing in the top seven.

On the women's side, Rachel Elliott led Northwest with a fourth-place finish in the 5K, running 18:47.3. Emma Hill finished 17th at 19:52.4, followed by Marissa Guthrie in 22nd at 20:22.9. The Eagles finished third as a team with 91 points.

Head Coach Mark Mandi was pleased with the team's opening performance and the way the Eagles competed.

"We had a great start to our season today. We wanted to give God the best of what we had and to represent Him well and I thought we did just that," said Mandi. "Winning in college is tough so to get two wins was really special."

Mandi also highlighted the performances from Elliott and Hill on the women's side, as well as the continued growth throughout the team.

"Rachel ran one of her best 5k races ever with a 4th overall showing and Emma Hill continues to show amazing improvement season after season," said Mandi. "I thought we showed good promise from our 4-7 runners and I'm excited to see that group improve together as the season moves along."

The Eagles will continue their season on Sept. 19 at the Pacific Lutheran Invitational in Parkland, Wash.