PORTLAND, Ore. -- Newcomers, Henry Mong and Abby Lawrence, excel in their Pilot debut, collecting first and second overall in their respective races at the Viking Rust Buster. The Pilot men finish first in the men's 6k, and the Pilot women finished third in the women's 5k.  

The No. 15 ranked Portland men earned a total of 19 points to defeat the Portland State Vikings. Mong claimed the overall win in a time of 18:33.7 to hold off Portland State's top runner, Keynan Abdi. Daniel Racle crossed the line in fourth with  a time of 18:47.7, placing him second among the Pilots. Leo Donlea came in fifth at 18:50.9, followed by Eliason Kabasenche in sixth (18:59.5) and Justin Hazell in seventh (19:01.1), rounding out the scorers for the Pilots.
 
"A very good team win today," said head coach Rob Conner. "PSU held out a few as did we so it was a good even competition. I saw a lot of good things but like the meet says, it is a rust buster. I think it will allow everyone to run better next time out."

Coach Conner called Mong's win "impressive" and noted that he beat some good runners. "He has had a great summer and he got to display that today. I was excited that his family and high school coach got to see it." About the rest of the team, he noted that, "It was fun seeing Dan Racle in action for the first time. He ran tough. Leo, Eliason and Justin closed it out for us and looked strong doing it. All of the guys worked hard this summer and the results showed."

Abby Lawrence finished second overall in a time of 17:59.3 to lead the Pilots a third-place finish with 51 points. The Pilots finished behind Portland State and Seattle U. who finished with 31 and 43 points, respectively. Courtney Klatt finished in third (18:03.1), Teresa Perez in 15^th (19:22.1), Lauren Block in 24th (20:14.0) and Tiahna Woodger in 27^th (20:24.0) to round out the Pilots' scoring five.
 
The Pilots men's and women's cross country teams will take a short break from racing to focus on training before their next challenge, The Bill Dellinger Invitational, at the University of Oregon on Sept. 23. Visit Portlandpilots.com for more information.
 
Men's Team Results – 6K
1. No. 15 Portland 19
2. Portland State 42
 
Portland Individual Men
1. Henry Mong (18:33.7) PR
2. Daniel Racle (18:47.7) PR
4. Leo Donlea (18:50.9)
5. Eliason Kabasenche (18:59.5) PR
7. Justin Hazell (19:01.1) PR
10. Cohen Williams (19:05.7) PR
11. Kevin Andrews (19:09.1) PR
15. Brady Martisus (19:16.5) PR
16. AJ Reyes (19:20.0) PR
24. Evan Delacruz (20:04.0) PR
25. Kai Vickers (20:06.6) PR
27. Nico Grillo (20:17.0) PR
 
 
Women's Team Results – 5K
1. Portland State 31
2. Seattle U. 43
3. Portland 51
4. Clark College 109
 
Portland Individual Women
2. Abby Lawrence (17:59.3)
5. Courtney Klatt (18:03.1)
15. Teresa Perez (19:22.1)
24. Lauren Block (20:14.0)
24. Tiahna Woodger (20:24.0)
32. Alexa Hague (21:15.4)