SPOKANE, Wash. -- Julie Lauterbach won the Pacific Lutheran Invitational, leading the Whitworth women to a team victory on the same course that the Northwest Conference championships will be held at the end of the month.

Julie Lauterbach

Lauterbach came from behind over the final 1,500 meters to overtake Amanda Phillips of Lewis & Clark, who led the first three quarters of the race. Lauterbach finished the six kilometer course in 21:58.8, a season best time for that distance. She defeated Joanna Murphy of Linfield by nearly ten seconds. Phillips dropped back to third place.

Jo E Meyer took ninth for the Pirates, continuing her outstanding freshman season. Her time was 23:10.7. Andrea Carnahan took 12th in 23:17.7, followed closely by Emily Hurd in 13th (23:22.2). The final Pirate scoring runner was Shannon Newth in 23rd place (23:41.4).

The Pirates scored 53 points as a team, finishing ahead of NCAA Division II Western Oregon (61) and fellow NWC member Lewis & Clark (70).

Click here for complete results. (PDF)

Jacob Deitz

Whitworth also tied for the team win in the men's competition with Western Oregon. Both the Pirates and the Wolves scored 46 points as teams. Had this been a championship meet, Whitworth would've been awarded the title based on results of the sixth and seventh runners. But as an invitational, it will remain a tie.

It was Whitworth's depth that carried the day, as the Pirates placed four runners among the top ten. Jacob Deitz was sixth in 25:49.5, while Dusty Caseria was seventh in 25:58.2. Jeff Grassley took ninth place (25:59.3), while Travis Huskisson was tenth (26:00.2). Jeff Forsyth was the final Pirate scorer in 21st place (26:38.3).

Linfield's Harrison Wilson won the race in a meet record time of 25:14.5.

Whitworth will stay in town this weekend to compete at the Big Foot Invitational, hosted by the Community Colleges of Spokane. The women's race will start at 11:00 am on the course at Spokane Falls Community College. The men's race will follow at 11:45 am. Several NWAACC teams will participate, along with Whitman, Central Washington, and Lewis-Clark State College.