Complete results (PDF)

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Natty Plunkett covered 6 kilometers in 22 minutes, 30.3 seconds, and was nearly half a minute in front of her closest challenger at the finish line, leading the Seattle Pacific women to a second-place finish in the Alaska Nanook Cross Country Invitational.

In a three-way dual against Alaska Fairbanks and Northwest Nazarene, the Falcons finished with 42 points. The host Nanooks won with 27, placing all five of their scorers among the top eight, and NNU was third with 63.

SPU junior Plunkett (Bellevue, Wash./Newport HS) was 25.9 seconds ahead of runner-up Raphaela Sieber of Fairbanks at the finish.

Joining Plunkett in the top 10 for the Falcons were freshmen Allison Cutting (Sequim, Wash./Sequim HS), who was fifth in 23:58.2, and Robyn Zeidler (Plymouth, Minn.,), who took 10th in 24:51.8.

Plunkett, who ran 11th at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships last fall and also was among SPU's scorers at the NCAA Division II championship to help secure a fourth-place trophy, is the top returner to this year's squad.

Sophomore Will Harrison (Tucson, Ariz.) came up with a strong performance for the Seattle Pacific men, placing second, and the Falcons wound up third as a team. Harrison completed 8 kilometers in 26:53.3, and was joined in the top five by junior Daniel Hamilton (Missoula, Mont.), who took fifth in 27:22.6.

Seattle Pacific finished third with 51 points. Northwest Nazarene, led by overall winner Barak Watson (26:30.0) won with 25, and Alaska Fairbanks was second with 48.

Both SPU teams will remain in Fairbanks for a pair of 4-kilometer races on Saturday. The women begin at 11 a.m. PDT, followed by the men at 11:45.

Those Falcons who aren't in Alaska will be in Bellingham on Saturday for the Lake Padden Relays. The non-scoring event starts at 10 a.m. at East Lake Padden Park.


NCAA WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Alaska Nanook Cross Country Invitational
Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010
6 kilometers at West Ridge Ski Trails/Fairbanks, Alaska

Team scores – 1, Alaska Fairbanks 27; 2, Seattle Pacific 42; 3, Northwest Nazarene 63.
Top 5 – 1, Natty Plunkett (SPU) 22:30.3; 2, Raphaela Sieber (UAF) 22:56.2; 3, Jaclyn Puga (NNU) 23:08.7; 4, Theresia Schnurr (UAF) 23:17.5; 5, Allison Cutting (SPU) 23:58.2. Other SPU placers – 10, Robyn Zeidler 24:51.8; 11, Krysta Carrick 25:01.6; 16, Kelsey Brown 26:15.6.



NCAA MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Alaska Nanook Cross Country Invitational
Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010
8 kilometers at West Ridge Ski Trails/Fairbanks, Alaska

Team scores – 1, Northwest Nazarene 25; 2, Alaska Fairbanks 48; 3, Seattle Pacific 51.
Top 5 – 1, Barak Watson (NNU) 26:30.0; 2, Will Harrison (SPU) 26:53.3; 3, Jesse Baggenstos (NNU) 27:02.9; 4, Tyler Kornfield (UAF) 27:12.6; 5, Daniel Hamilton (SPU) 27:22.6. Other SPU placers – 11, AJ Baker 28:13.1; 17, Andrew Van Ness 28:50.2; 18, Gavin Brand 28:53.5.