ESTACADA, Ore. – Jeff Lee paced the Linfield College men, and Courtney Beard and Emma Knudson were frontrunners for the Wildcat women Saturday at the Lewis & Clark Invitational. Mild weather at McIver State Park made for a perfect outing as the women raced the six-kilometer course and the men going the full eight kilometers in the final tuneup prior to the Northwest Conference Championships.
 
Men
Lee was the first 'Cat to cross the finish line, placing 24th in a time of 26:13.2. Brad Hodkinson of Pacific Lutheran was the overall winner of the race in 24:55.3. Donson Cook-Gallarado from Carleton was second in 24:59.1 and Connor Cushman from Southern Oregon grabbed third in 25:01.0.
 
Other Linfield finishers were Calvin Ong, 40th (26:47.2), Liam Pickhardt, 69th (27:57.0), Grant Blodgette, 79th (28:09.2), Cameron Holland, 86th (28:37.0), Asa Richerson, 89th (28:43.0), and Josh Ramirez, 99th (29:42.9).
 
The Linfield men were ninth among the 11 scoring teams. Southern Oregon earned the team title with 30 points. Carleton placed second with 38 points followed by host Lewis & Clark at 115. Pacific Lutheran (117) and Whitworth (139) rounded out the top five.
 
Women
Beard and Knudson both enjoyed top-10 individual finishes. Beard crossed the line in eighth place at 22:12.4 while Knudson was 10th in 22:15.8. Jessica Perkinson from Southern Oregon was the leading finisher. The senior won by over 30 seconds in 21:11.8. Kayla Leland from Whitworth placed second in 21:32.3. Carleton had the next two finishers in Meg Mathison third (21:34.0) and Emily Kaegi fourth (21:48.7).
 
Other Linfield finishers were Kaelia Neal, 14th (22:37.8), Jamie Rodden, 42nd (23:46.1), Nicole Bissey, 43rd (23:49.0), Kelsey Kuhns 44th (23:50.4) and Ana Ramiez 48th (24:02.1).
 
Ranked 27th in NCAA Division III and third in the West Region, the Linfield women finished third in the final team standings. Carleton won the event with 38 points while Whitworth was second with 64 points, followed by Linfield at 106. Colorado College placed fourth with 111 points and Southern Oregon rounded out the top five teams with 119 points.
 
Ahead
The Northwest Conference Championships are Saturday, Oct. 28, at Veterans Memorial Golf Course in Walla Walla, Washington. The first race starts at 10 a.m.