ESTACADA, Ore. --- Linfield men's and women's cross country took off in the first meet of the season on Friday morning at the Lewis & Clark Opener, as Mya Budzik and Marco Stroman led the way.

"It's good to get a race under our belts." Said head coach Chris McIsaac following the race. "We've been putting in a lot of work these past few weeks, so we weren't expecting anything spectacular in this first test."

The 'Cats first race of the season at Milo McIver State Park marked the first race for multiple newcomers to the program as well as head coach Chris McIsaac. The opening women's 5-kilometer race began at 9:30 a.m., where freshman Mya Budzik set a four-minute opening kilometer pace. Budzik closed with a sub four-minute final stretch to take 81^st in the race.

Freshman Jasmine Solso followed close behind Budzik throughout, crossing the finish 20-seconds later in 87^th. Solso records the fastest kilometer split on the team, recording a time of 3:50.6 down the home stretch to grab a personal best to begin her career. 

Junior Liberty McElfatrick followed suit with a 25:14.3, while Ximena Sanchez-Lopez and Mia McCormack rounded out the team score for the Wildcats, running times of 26:33.2 and 28:00.6. 

"Mya [Budzik] ran a hard race in her debut, leading the women's team. While Jasmine [Solso] set an all-time PR."

The women's squad took 12^th-place in the race, finishing behind Northwest Conference foes George Fox (5^th), Pacific (8^th), Lewis & Clark (9^th), and Willamette (10^th). 

Freshman Marco Stroman's opening 3:01.8 split led the Wildcats in the men's five-kilometer race, as his time of 16:37.54 earned him the best finish on the team in 48^th-place. 

"Marcus got out of a little fast, but was able to hang on as our top runner on the men's team."

CJ Brindeiro remained consistent throughout, as the junior transfer was close behind with a time of 17:16.32. Fellow newcomers Finley Wodke and Joaquin Rameriz Dod closed out the race for the men's team, with Wodke running a personal-best time of 18:29.26. 

"CJ ran a smart race today and moved up the pack throughout. I'm proud of Finley for running his all-time PR in his first race. Overall, we are headed in the right direction, and I'm excited to see how we can improve throughout the season" said McIsaac. 

The 'Cats look ahead to their next race on September 12^th, where the teams head to Monmouth, Ore., to compete in the Ash Creek Collegiate hosted by Western Oregon University. 

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