IRVINE, Calif.-When
Biola took to the podium to collect the 2024 women's PacWest cross country trophy, it was a familar place for head coach
Sean Henning and the Eagles.
It was the third straight year for Biola to win the team title, and they did it in convincing fashion with 29 points.
Concordia was next with 76, followed by
Point Loma (86),
Azusa Pacific (97), and
Fresno Pacific in fifth (105) on Saturday morning at the Great Park in Irvine.
"Our leaders really asserted themselves today," Henning said after the awards ceremony. "We had a tough race a few weeks ago at Lewis, and our confidence was down a bit. But they rebounded well today. Our three C's were 'run with confidence, be courageous and stay calm'. They did all three."
The individual plaque went to
Azusa Pacific's Jessica Kampman Walczak, a grad senior who won by 13 seconds over 2022 champion
Lynette Ruiz of
Biola. Kampman crossed the line in 20:28, with Ruiz next at 20:41. Kampman Walczak, who was an NAIA All-American at Dordt College before transferring to Azusa, can now add PacWest champion to her resume.
"That was a little bit unexpected but very fulfilling," she said after the race. "It has been a great experience with my teammates at APU and I am excited for our next race at regionals."
Kampman Walczak pulled away from a tight pack with about three kilometers to go. Ruiz was within sight distance, along with teammate
Bethany Mapes, who finished third in 20:55.
"That was the plan to have Jessica pull away at the halfway point," said APU coach
Jebreh Harris. "That was the race she trained for, she really stuck to the plan. She may sound surprised but I certainly wasn't."
The top seven runners earn First Team All-PacWest, runners 8-14 are Second Team and 15-21 are Third Team.
Point Loma's Maddie Reeves was fourth (21:05),
Aislin Taylor (Biola) was fifth (21:12),
Taylor Whitfield of host Concordia was sixth (21:13) and
Acaemy of Art's Grace Southern was seventh (21:24).
Next in the sights of the top teams and runners in this race are the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships in Billings, Montana, November 9.
For complete results, click here.
https://finishedresults.trackscoreboard.com/meets/12416/events/10213