WSU opens eyes

The Washington State men’s cross country team took a firm step in the direction of a berth at nationals Saturday with a seventh place finish at the Pre-Nationals Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind.

The unranked Cougars outperformed four top 30 teams to settle in seventh, led by sophomore Jono Lafler’s time of 24 minutes, 36.5 seconds in the 8,000-meter race. They also managed to stay within range of the top finisher, Oregon, which was led by Luke Puskedra, who took first in a time of 23:40.2.

The WSU women took 28th at the invitational, with 674 points with Lisa Egami leading the way in 55th. The University of Washington topped the standings in the women’s 6,000-meter race with 59 points and three finishers in the top five.

•In the absence of Nick Gallagher, the Whitworth men still won at the 8,000-meter Puget Sound Invitational in Tacoma. The Pirates overcame a first- and third-place finish by Linfield as Tyler Dudley led a group of three straight Pirates, crossing the finish line in 26:33.46 in fourth place.

The Whitworth women made it a sweep, finishing with 36 points, well ahead of second place Whitman. Dana Misterek finished second in a time of 23:38.57 to lead a group of four Pirates to finish in the top 10.

•Hosting 12 men’s and eight women’s teams, Idaho runners took third in both races at the Inland Northwest Cross Country Challenge in Moscow.

Marcus Geiger led the Vandals in third place and Eastern Washington’s Kyle King took second in 24:21.33. The UI women finished third as a team with 50 points, led by Melissa McFaddan’s 18:07.95.

Men’s soccer

Whitworth (9-2-1, 7-1) gave up a two-goal lead in the second half against the visiting Pacific Lutheran Lutes (8-5, 5-3), but the Pirates scored back-to-back goals in the 77th and 84th minute to win 4-2.

•McKenzie Olivares’ goal in the 30th minute lifted North Idaho (4-8-3) over Western Nebraska CC (4-6-1) 1-0 in Cheyenne, Wyo.

•Morgan Hartanov tied the game for Community Colleges of Spokane (5-7-2, 5-2-1 NWAACC) in the 89th minute to ensure a 1-1 tie of host Wenatchee Valley CC (5-4-2, 3-3-2).

•Oregon State (5-5-2) posted a 2-0 Pac-10 shutout of Washington (4-5-4) behind two goals from Danny Mwanga to snap a five-match winning streak for the UW in Corvallis, Ore.

Women’s soccer

Lindsey Oakes broke a 1-1 tie for Whitworth (11-3, 8-2) in the 56th minute and the Pirates held the lead for a 2-1 Northwest Conference win over visiting Pacific Lutheran (3-10, 2-7).

•Community Colleges of Spokane (6-3-2, 6-2-1 NWAACC) scored five second-half goals in a 5-0 win over host Wenatchee Valley CC (2-6-2, 2-6-1).