Women's Cross Country

Biola and Concordia Cross the Finish Line First

Concordia and Biola shared nicknames until this year (Concordia is now the Golden Eagles), and now both women’s cross country teams will lay claim to co-Teams of the Week and Co-Runners of the Week. Both squads won their respective races in Irvine and San Bernardino to highlight PacWest races last week.

2022 Results/Schedule
2022 USTFCCCA National Preseason Poll
 
RUNNER OF THE WEEK: Biola’s Lynette Ruiz, So., Simi Valley, Calif.                                                        
2021 PacWest second place finisher Lynette Ruiz crossed the line third at the Vanguard Invitational on Friday at Irvine’s Regional Park. Ruiz, who also finished 21st last year at the NCAA Regionals as a freshman, clocked a time of 18:28 on the five kilometer course. She helped lead her Eagle team to a first place finish in a field that included No. 6 nationally ranked The Master’s (NAIA).

RUNNER OF THE WEEK: Concordia’a Jori Paradis, Sr., Silverton, Ore.                                                                  
Jori Paradis crossed the finish line second at the Coyote Challenge in San Bernardino with a 5K time of 18:26. Paradis finished just two seconds behind Cal State San Bernardino’s Alexis Wallace (18:24) and was 25 seconds ahead of teammate Madeline Jahshan (18:51). The Golden Eagles finished in first place of eight teams on the campus course.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Biola Eagles                                                                                                                     
Biola finished 21 points ahead of No. 6 The Master’s (25-46) to top all comers in a talented field of NAIA teams. The Mustangs grabbed the top two spots but the Eagles crossed the line the next four times, with Lynette Ruiz third (18:28), Bethany Mapes fourth (18:31), Maggie Williams fifth (18:35) and Grace Catena sixth (18:42). In addition to highly ranked The Master’s, the field also included NAIA No. 12 Westmont. "The ladies did a really good job of staying in control the first two miles," said head coach Sean Henning. "We were way back and moved up tremendously from mile two to the finish. We are still holding out a few girls as they develop their fitness, so I'm excited when we will be at full strength."

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Concordia Golden Eagles                                                                                                          
Concordia dominated the field at the Coyote Challenge, featuring Division II teams from the CCAA and local junior colleges. Jori Paradis led a pack of Golden Eagle runners to a 2-3-4-5-7-8 finish with a time of 18:26. Madeline Jahshan came in third (18:51), Sara Feitz was fourth (19:04), Porshe Eismann was fifth (19:08), Hayley Killion was seventh (19:17) and Adriana Gil was eighth (19:20). "The women were patient through the first mile," explained head coach Keegan Bloomfield. "They were in second place as a team but they followed our plan. Moving up over the last two miles as a team was fun to see. From here we move towards bigger competitions and faster races but this was a great way to start.”
 
PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: Both Dominican and Holy Names ran at the Kim Dunst Invitational in Ceres, hosted by Stanislaus State. Courtney Santos was the top finisher for Holy Names, crossing the line in 19th with a time of 25:01 on the six kilometer course. Mary Gallegos of Domincan finished in 29th (26:56). Only four of the 11 PacWest women’s cross country teams competed this past weekend.

LOOKING AHEAD: Nine of the 11 PacWest women’s cross country teams will be in action this coming Saturday (Sept. 17). Holy Names will be at the Monterey Bay Invitational, while Hawai`i Pacific, Hawai`i Hilo and Chaminade will square off at the Chaminade Invite at Kapiolani Park in Honolulu. Four conference teams will be at the UC Riverside Invitational—Academy of Art, Biola, Fresno Pacific and Concordia. Point Loma will kick things off on Friday at Mission Bay in San Diego for the USD Invitational.