FAIRBANKS – The Alaska Nanooks men's cross country team started its season with a second-place finish in its opening race, the Moda Health Alaska Invitational on Saturday morning.
The Nanooks were led by top-ten finishes of the trio of
Isaac Lammers,
Seiji Takagi, and
Keegan Rankin. Lammers finished seventh with a time of 26:52.3 while Takagi (27:01.8) and Kankin (27:03.4) placed eighth and ninth, respectively.
Overall, the Nanooks finished in second place with 50 points, behind California State University Stansilaus who topped the field with 18. Hawaii Pacific University finished third with 52 points.
Ross MacDougall and
Mitch Burgess also placed in the top-15 for Alaska, as MacDougall (27L30.7) placed 12th and
Mitch Burgess (27:33.9) finished in 14th-place.
CSUS placed four runners in the top five, led by Alex Villaescusa, who won the race with a time of 26:03.1. He finished just ahead of teammate, Jesus Ortiz, who came in second in a time of 26:15.3. Hawaii Pacific's Leandro Santillan recorded a third-place time of 26:25.0.
Alaska next competes at the 20th Sundodger Invitational on Saturday, September 20, in Seattle, Washington.
