Clark College runners Nathan Richards placed 12th and Holly Meler 13th as the Penguins opened their cross country season Saturday at the Pier Park Invitational in Portland.
Richards, an R.A. Long grad, was the top male runner for Clark, finishing the 8,000-meter course in 19 minutes, 41.87 seconds.
Portland State’s Zachary Carpenter won in 18:39.45.
Also for Clark, Walker Riley was 19th overall, Sterling Yates 23rd, Ricky Garcia 36th, and Nick Maudlin 38th as the team placed fifth out of six complete teams.
Meler, a Columbia River grad, paced the Clark women with a time of 18:42.93 on the 5K course. The race was won by Merel Van Steenbergern of Portland in 17:29.46.
Clark was third out of four complete teams. Katarina Mueller was 17th overall, Angela Gula 22nd, Tamera Kulla 26th, Briel Cossette 27th, and Shelby Beaudoin 40th.
