OAHU, Hawaii – For the fifth season in a row, the Pacific cross country team will race in the Big Wave Invitational, hosted by the University of Hawaii on Friday at Kapiolani Park.

In the 24th edition of the Big Wave Invitational, the Tigers will have the men's squad suit up in the Aloha State for the first time with the 6k starting at 7:15 a.m. HT/10:15 a.m. PT, followed by the women in the 4k at 8 a.m. HT/11 a.m. PT.

Last season, the women's cross country team opened its campaign with a runner-up finish for a fourth straight year in the event. Pacing the Tigers was senior Emily Wernli with a sixth place showing of 20:07.30 in the 5k race, which marked a new personal record at the time.

Graduate student Sophia Livingston also notched a spot in the top 15 individually, clocking a time of 20:50.00. Junior Valeria Espinoza was the fourth Tiger to cross the finish line in that 2024 competition, securing 16th place with a 20:57.10.

As for this year's results so far, sophomore Angelina Lione ran the fastest by a Pacific participant at the USF Invitational last week, earning a time of 22:02.2 in the 6k in San Francisco.

On the men's side, junior Samuel Lanham finished as the top Tiger in the 8k at the USF Invitational, clocking a time of 25:19.4.

Fellow newcomers Daniel Judd and Logan Evans also put up great times in their first races of the season, both coming in under the 26-minute benchmark and cracking the top 50 among the participants at the USF Invitational.

Friday's race in Hawaii will represent the first of three competitions for Pacific outside of California this season. Later in the year, the Tigers will head to the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minnesota to close out their September slate and then compete in the West Coast Conference Championships in Spokane, Washington in November.

Previously in the Big Wave Invitational, Pacific had opened seven of the past eight seasons in Oahu, only foregoing the race in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tigers won the Big Wave title during the 2017 season.

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