WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Whitworth opened the 2008 cross county season in impressive fashion on Saturday morning as the Pirate men raced to the championship at the Whitman Invitational and the women finished second overall.

Gallagher led the Pirate men to 1st place

Nick Gallagher (So., Bedford, Iowa) and Dusty Caseria (Jr., Bellingham, Wash.) finished second and third overall to lead Whitworth's men to the team title. The Pirates scored 31 points to knock off NAIA Lewis-Clark State (33 points). Gallagher's time was 19:39.7 on the six kilometer course, while Caseria finished in 19:42.7.

Host Whitman finished third with 104 points. Click here for complete results.

Aaron Jenkins (Fr., Pocatello, Idaho) finished sixth in 20:16.5, while Emmanuel Bofa (Jr., Puyallup, Wash.) took seventh in 20:17.7 to give the Pirate four runners in the top seven positions. Jamie Daroff (Sr., Clearfield, Utah) was the final Whitworth scorer, taking 13th in 20:25.5.

Whitworth's women finished with 45 points, behind LCSC (36 points) and ahead of Whitman (79). Click here for complete women's results.

Tonya Turner (Fr., Spokane, Wash.) and Kathryn Williams (So., Santiago, Chile) finished fourth (15:06.3) and fifth (15:12.6) on the four kilometer course to lead the Whitworth women.

Dana Misterek (Fr., Gig Harbor, Wash.) finished 10th in 15:20.2, giving the Bucs three in the top 10. Jo E Mayer (Jr., Spokane, Wash.) was 13th in 15:27.6, while Kaitlin Hildebrand (Jr., Gig Harbor, Wash.) was 19th in 15:47.1.

Next week the Pirates will host their own Short Course Invitational, which will inlude Gonzaga University. The meet begins at 10:00 am behind the Whitworth Fieldhouse.