Pacific Index

Pacific University men’s and women’s cross country gear up for the upcoming season. 

   Light, but slowed breaths puff in and out into the chilling morning air as the runners line up at the starting line. Jumping off the starting point is Pacific University’s men’s and women’s cross country teams who have been more than eager to get moving into their season. Their debut weekend took place on September 4 of this year, and not too far from home in McMinnville, at the Harrier Classic. With their first race under their belt the team runs into the right direction to get their season underway. 

   The men started the day off with the 6K. Junior Peyton Fisher was the first Boxer to cross the finish line with a personal best time of 19:10.8; finishing 28th overall. The second Boxer to head in was sophomore Elias Bradbury who finished with a tie of 19:58.3; 41st place overall. Junior Jacob Tilden crossed the line with a time of 20:17.7; 58th place. The Boxer men’s team finished fifth out of 13. 

   On the women’s side, they started off their season with a 4k race. To no surprise, it was graduate student Ria Gill who finished first for the Boxers with a time of 14:45.5. Gill placed 24th in the race overall. Following her, freshman Emily Davidson and Isabel Camp who each placed 75th and 99th. Davidson finished with a time of 16:03.4 and Camp with 16:39. The Pacific women’s cross country team finished ninth out of the 13 teams. 

   The Pacific women have added five new freshmen to the team this season, and right off the bat the performances from the returners add to the team’s strong squad. For the Boxer men, the team added three new freshman and one sophomore transfer, but more than a handful of the team are returners.