STELIACOOM, Wash. -- The Loggers ran away with the Puget Sound Invite this year, taking first place in both the men's and women's races this afternoon. 

How it Happened
Men's Race: 
The Loggers kicked off the morning with a stellar performance, with three of their top five runners placing in the top 10. Cian Monaghan crossed the finish line with a blazing time of 15:20.2 to win the men's 5k, with sophomore Emerson Ingraham finishing 26 seconds later with a time of 15:46.3 to place second. 

Freshman Noah Larsen made his Puget Sound debut this morning as well, posting an impressive 16:08.6 to come in sixth. The freshmen continued to shine as two more came across the finish line in 11th and 12th place, giving the Loggers a stellar team score of 29. Leo Aslaskon finished with a 16:18.4 in 11th, and Noah Brown rounded out the scoring, coming in with a time of 16:39.7. 

The rest of the Logger runners also made their mark at Fort Steilacoom this morning, logging solid times to round out the day. Gabriel Velazquez finished in 17:03.1, just cracking the top-20 and finishing in 19th place. Tdohasan Sunray, Dillon Yell, David Palmieri, and Avery Keith all finished sub-18 as well, rounding out the runners for the day. 

Women's Race:
The women's team took what the men's team did, and bested it by 12, finishing in first place with a whopping 17 total points. Sophomore Emily Moore and Junior Erin Schmidlin went neck and neck the entire race, pacing the front of pack the whole race. A photo finish was needed to decide the victor, as Moore got the edge, winning by 0.5 seconds. Her time of 19:27.3 was closely followed by Schmidlin's 19:27.8, with two more Loggers right behind.

Lydia Cocciolone finished strong, coming in third place with a time of 19:35.0, and freshman Samantha Palm made a strong debut right on Cocciolone's heels with a time of 19:47.7 to finish in fourth. Two more Logger runners also finished in the top 10, as Ella Courtnage-Dyke and Brooklyn Gildersleeve-Stiles finished seventh in 19:57.6, and eighth in 20:06.8 respectively. \

Rounding out the Logger runners was Sarah Gardner, Elise Gonzales, Sonia Whittle, Ali Raymond, Norah Beck, Whitney Nelson, and Charlie Bodecker. On an overcast Tacoma morning, it was prime condition for the first race of the season, and the Loggers showed out. 

Both men's and women's teams officially got the log rolling in the right direction. While they may stay in Tacoma for their next meet, they head to the other school in Tacoma for the PLU invite on September 20th. Races are slated to begin at 11:00 am for the men, and 11:50 am for the women.