This past weekend on Saturday, Sept. 24 the Puget Sound cross country team competed at the Sundodger Invitational. The Sundodger Invitational is a meet hosted by the University of Washington in Seattle, and was the second meet for the Logger cross country team.
The men and women’s teams both had great advancements during the meet with multiple runners making new personal records. Both teams competed in an open division where the women placed 12th out of 17 teams and the men placed 16th out of 21 teams.
Junior Carrie Keith (Erie, Colo.) was the top finisher for the women’s team and led the Loggers with a 39th place finish in the 6K. Keith also ran a new personal best with an impressive time of 23:16.69 which placed her sixth on the Loggers all-time list. Freshman Molly Bradbury (Boise, Idaho) and Laura Leach (Alamo, Calif.) also ran new personal best times during the Sundodger Invitational last weekend.
Bradbury placed 53rd with a finishing time of 23:37.64, and Leach placed 69th with a time of 23:50.97; both times scored points towards the Loggers 12th place finish. The Logger women were able to secure 315 points and defeat PLU and George Fox, teams in the same conference as the Loggers.
Senior Brooke Peaden (Aurora, Colo.) ran a 25:46.4 for the Logger women’s cross country team.
When asked about her own goals for her senior season and the team overall, she said, “I would like to improve upon my pr [personal record] and I would like to stay healthy and competitive the entire season. My goals for the team are for us to do well at conference and to send a full team to regionals. I am really excited with how well the team is working together so far and I think we can all really improve this season.”
The Puget Sound men’s team also had a great showing at the Sundodger Invitational. Freshman Josh Seekatz (Philomath, Ore.) PRed and led the Loggers with the highest finish. Seekatz placed 51st out of 200 at the meet with a time of 26:03.3.
Junior Matthew Klein (Portland, Ore.) and freshman Justin Higa (Pearl City, Hawaii) both ran their personal best and scored major points. Klein placed 75th at the Sundodger Invitational and clocked a time of 26:22.4. Meanwhile, Higa finished his race with a time of 27.43.1. Overall, the Logger men’s team finished with 412 points, almost beating conference teams Whitman and PLU.
The next meet for the Puget Sound cross country team will be on Oct. 1 in Salem, Ore. at Bush Park, where they will be competing in the Chuck Bowles Invitational. The men and women’s team are both showing a lot of potential and setting the bar for their season by having many members of both teams PR early this season. The cross country team should only improve further from here on out.