ELLENSBURG, Wash.- The Central Washington University cross country teams return to action this Saturday as they travel to Tacoma, Washington, to compete in the Pacific Lutheran Invitational, hosted by Pacific Lutheran University. The women's 6K race kicks off at 11:10 a.m., followed by the men's 8K at 11:45 a.m.
 
PACIFIC LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY INVITATIONAL INFO
Saturday, September 20
Women's 6K – 11:10 a.m.
Men's 8K – 11:45 a.m.
PLU Meadows
Tacoma, WA
 
QUOTING ASSISTANT COACH MATT LAYTEN
"After our weekend at Washington State last weekend, we will be taking a different squad of nine women over to Pacific Lutheran this weekend. Since we arrived on campus, our women's team has shown that there are multiple levels of leadership within the group from newcomers to returners as they promote the values and mission for our program. This in turn has created a great training and team environment so far this year! The meet this weekend will be a great opportunity for our team's leadership to shine as well as help our group continue to invest in our continued progression of the program. 

Our group for this weekend is young, including four freshmen and two sophomores. For a few it'll be their first ever 6K and it'll be a good opportunity to see where we are at as they are coming into college training and transitioning from the 5000m distance in high school and into our NCAA Championship distance. These young ladies have put in strong training since they arrived here on campus, and we are excited to put a great weekend together and see where we are at in our long-term process!"
 
 
LAST TIME OUT
Both Wildcats teams had an excellent showing at the Cougar Classic as the women's team placed third with 97 points and the men's team placed fourth with 124 points. The women's side finished just behind Washington State and Eastern Washington. The men's side finished behind Washington State, Gonzaga and Montana.

Maddy Harrison led the women with a 16^th place finish and a time of 22:18.3. Teammate Payton Conover was right behind her as she finished in 19^th with a time of 22:32.1. Lillian Neff was the third Wildcat to cross the finish line as she placed 23^rd with a time of 22:38.6. Katie Manly also finished in the top 30 as she placed 28^th with a time of 22:48.6. Teammates Julie Johnson and Hannah Pidduck finished 38^th and 39^th with times of 23:17.9 and 23:18.9 respectively.

On the men's side, Weston Breen led the way as he finished 28^th with a time of 24:54.3. Luke Hurd was the second Wildcat to cross the finish line as he placed 38^th with a time of 25:16.2. Freshman Dima Serafimovici placed 44^th with a time of 25:25.5. with teammate Kellen Mclnelly placing 48^th with a time of 25:34.0. Ares Van Straaten closed out the top five for the 'Cats as he finished 62^nd with a time of 26:04.8.
 
UP NEXT
CWU will travel to Ferndale, Washington to compete in the Western Washington University Bill Roe Invitational at Hovander Homestead Park on Saturday, September 27. The women's 6K race is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m., followed by the men's 8K at 11:00 a.m.