TACOMA, Wash. -- Whitworth's men's and women's cross country team raced to fifth place finishes on Saturday at the Northwest Conference championship meet, hosted by Pacific Lutheran on the PLU golf course in Tacoma.

The Pirate women scored 123 points, coming within eight points of third place Lewis & Clark (115) and five of George Fox (118). Willamette won the meet with 50 points, just edging Puget Sound's 54 points. Behind Whitworth was Whitman (126), Linfield (155), Pacific Lutheran (222) and Pacific (225).

Lauterbach earned All-NWC honors again

Julie Lauterbach finished fourth for Whitworth, running the 6 kilometer course in 21:46.90. Willamette's Sarah Zerzan won the race in 20:32.66, beating her nearest competitor by 53 seconds. Lauterbach earned her second straight First Team All-NWC honor after finishing fifth last year. The top seven racers are First Team All-NWC, while the next seven are Second Team.

Jo E Mayer finished 21st in 22:45.9 and Andrea Carnahan was 30th in 23:02.2. Gillian Goodrich (23:11.7) and Emily Hurd (23:20.7) finished in 34th and 37th places, respectively.

Click here for complete women's results.

Whitworth's men scored 133 points, five points ahead of Whitman (138). Willamette won the title (40), followed by Puget Sound (58), Linfield (95) and George Fox (119). Whitman was followed in seventh place by Lewis & Clark (182), Pacific (191) and PLU (256).

Jacob Deitz led Whitworth, finishing 19th in 25:28.9 on the 8 kilometer course. Jeff Grassley (25:41.4) and Dusty Caseria (25:46.6) finished in 24th and 27th places, respectively. Justin Farris had a very strong race, finishing 36th in 26:17.7, while Travis Huskisson was 38th in 26:17.4. All of Whitworth's top four finishers ran times that were faster than the times from the PLU Invitational earlier this month.

Willamette's Ian Batch won the race in 24:30.7.

Click here for complete men's results.

The Pirates will return to action in two weeks at the NCAA Division III West Regional, which will take place on Saturday, Nov. 11th at Prado Park in Chino, Calif.