INDEPENDENCE, Ore. – Now is the time of the cross country season to be picking up the pace. That's precisely what several Puget Sound Loggers did on Saturday morning.
 
Cian Monaghan broke the 25-minute mark at 8 kilometers for the first time in his career in the men's race, and Erin Schmidlin, Emily Moore, Samantha Palm, and Ella Courtnage-Dyke broke 23 minutes at 6K in the women's race at  the Linfield George Oja Invitational.
 
Monaghan finished his morning's work around the Oak Knoll Golf course in 24 minutes, 14.1 seconds to place 15th among the 389 competitors. Now a senior, Monaghan's previous 8K best was 25:09.8 on this same Oak Knoll course at last year's Northwest Conference Championships.
 
Also factoring into Saturday's scoring were sophomore Emerson Ingraham (106th in 25:46.1), freshman Noah Brown (140th in 26:06.8), freshman Leo Aslakson (153rd in 26:16.2) and freshman Ian Cook (186th in 26:38.5).
 
The Loggers were 17th as a team with 489 points.
 
Schmidlin was at the front of the Puget Sound women's pack for the first time this season, placing 66th overall and leading the Loggers to an eighth-place team finish with 300 points. She finished her 6 kilometers in 22 minutes, 34.7 seconds.
 
That was Schmidlin's second time in the 22s and was a drop of 1:47 from her time at the Whitman Open on Oct. 4 in Walla Walla. Her previous best 6K was 22:56.8 at last fall's NCAA West Regionals.
 
Sophomore Moore was right on Schmidlin's heels on Saturday in 22:38.0, placing 71st. Completing the scoring were freshman Samantha Palm in 74th (22:59.5), senior Ella Courtnage-Dyke in 84th (22:50.1) and junior Lydia Cocciolone in 110th (23:16.7). All five scorers were within 42 seconds.
 
Moore's previous best 6K was 23:07.3 in last year's NCAA West Regionals. For Courtnage-Dyke, it was 23:22.7 at the 2022 NWCs.

Coach's Thoughts
"Both teams ran really well today," said Logger head coach Lisa Kushiyama. "Everyone ran a personal best or season best time. Cian did a great job of going out hard, competing, and leading our men's team. The women worked really hard as a pack today and showed the power in the depth of the team."
 
What Happens Next
The Northwest Conference Championships are set for Saturday, Nov. 1, at the PLU Cross Country Course. The 6K women's race starts at 10:00 a.m., followed by the 8K men's race at 11:00.