MONMOUTH, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College rookies Ava Stewart and Eva Marley-Jester each finished in the top-45, to lead women's cross country on Friday at the Ash Creek Invitational. 

THE BASICS 
 
Women's Cross Country – 9^th out of 10 Teams – 219 Points 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED 
 
Stewart and Marley-Jester finished fourth and sixth among NCAA DIII runners in the 10-team field that also featured Northwest Conference schools Pacific University and Linfield University. Friday's field included NCAA DI schools Portland State University and Seattle University and NCAA DII squad Western Oregon University (host) and Simon Fraser University. 
 
Stewart paced the River Otters for a second-straight race to begin her career. The first year placed 37^th overall with a time of 20:03.8. 
 
Marley-Jester notched a PR 5K time to place 44^th. The sophomore crossed the line in 20:30.0. 
 
Junior Talia Tomhave was just behind Marley-Jester in 46^th place. The junior came across in 20:40.8 to finish as the third Lewis & Clark runner and seventh NCAA DIII competitor to finish. 
 
Senior Carolyn Mayberry came across fourth on the team. She posted a time of 22:12.9 to place 67^th overall. 
 
Senior Nadia Cota finished in fifth on the River Otters. Cota notched a time of 22:54.5 to place  77^th in the field. 
 
Sophomore Katherine Scannell finished 79^th overall. Scannell registered a time of 23:04.4. 
 
Sophomore Dagny Fenton posted a time of 24:56.5 to place 84^th overall. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Marley-Jester improved her collegiate 5K cross country PR by 15.8 seconds from the Lewis & Clark XC Opener. 
• Mayberry finished in the scoring lineup (top-five on the team) for the first time in her career. 
• Cota made her season debut on Friday night. 
• Host Western Oregon (33 points) earned the team win by 15 points over Simon Fraser (48) and 38 points over Portland State (71).

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will travel to Tacoma next Saturday for the Pacific Lutheran University Invitational.