Women's Cross Country

Eagles and Mapes Impress on National Stage

Biola defeats five nationally ranked teams in Illinois and Bethany Mapes finishes sixth at Lewis Invitational. In San Fransicso, Concordia's Ania Kapustka wins at Golden Gate Park to share Runner of the Week honors with Mapes.

Biola went halfway across the country to compete against some of the nation's best at the Lewis Invitational in Romeoville, Illinois. The Eagles had their best finish ever at the event, getting third place status and defeating five ranked teams in the process. Mapes finished sixth against 335 runners. Back in California, Concordia's Ania Kapustka won the SF State Invitational to share Runner of the Week honors with Mapes

2025 Results/Schedule
2025 USTFCCCA Regional and National Polls
 
RUNNER(S) OF THE WEEK: Biola's Bethany Mapes, Sr., El Cajon, Calif.                                                                                
Biola's Bethany Mapes had her best finish in her final try at the Lewis Invitational, finishing sixth in the top-level race in Illinois. The senior bettered her tenth place crossing from a year ago, running 21:30 over the 6 kilometer course to finish in the very upper eschelon of 335 runners. "Bethany did a great job of getting us a low stick on the scoreboard," said her coach Sean Henning. "She raced with poise and patience, and I was proud of the effort." It was the San Diego native's second PacWest Runner of the Week award this season and the fourth of her career.

RUNNER(S) OF THE WEEK: Concordia's Ania Kapustka, Sr., Krakow, Poland                                                                    
Concordia's Ania Kapustka won her first race in a Golden Eagle uniform and she did so in convincing fashion. The Portland State transfer ran away from the pack at the San Francisco State Invite, touring the 6K Golden Gate Park course in 21:44, nine seconds ahead of second place Lex Craven of Cal Poly Humboldt. The Poland native, who ran #2 for the Division I Vikings, has finished third at CS San Bernardino and fifth at the Biola Invitational, setting herself up as a contender for the PacWest title in two weeks in Hawaii. 

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Biola Eagles                                                                                                                                            
Biola finished third at the Lewis Invitational, their highest finish in program history. Running against 36 teams, including seven that are ranked nationally, the Eagles finished with 180 team points, only behind first place Chico State (100) and second place host Lewis IL (140). Coach Sean Henning's team finished comfortably ahead of fourth place Colorado Mesa (210) and fifth place Pittsburg (220). Eagles behind Bethany Mapes (see above) in scoring position were Maddie Ebright (35th, 22:16), Jaina Kang (38th, 22:20), Elizabeth Kurtz (52nd, 22:30) and Hailey Wurzbach (53rd, 22:30). "The women did a great job today," stated Henning. "We knew we had been underrated for most of the year, which wasn't an issue for us as we know what we are capable of doing. The girls went in unranked in the country and beat every ranked team except for Chico State (#15) and Lewis (#9) on their home course."

PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: In Romeoville, Point Loma ran to a 14th place standing out of the 36 teams competing. Maddie Reeves topped the Sea Lion efforts with an impressive tenth place crossing (21:49)...In San Francisco, Concordia won the team title at the SF Invite with 42 points, ahead of second place Stanislaus State (67). Chico State was third (84), but neither CCAA team ran their top runners (Chico won the Lewis Invite). After Ania Kapustka's winning time, other Golden Eagles in the top 17 were Elizabeth King (3rd, 21:58), Emily Lttlefield (9th, 22:11), Olivia Reed (15th, 22:29), Adamara Esparza (16th, 22:29) and Audrey Carcenas (17th, 22:31)...Azusa Pacific was fifth in San Francisco, led by a strong showing from Sophia Godina (4th, 22:00). Sofia Vasquez was the next Cougar across the finish line in 22:38 (22nd place)...On the Big Island, Hawaii Hilo made it a clean sweep of their three island races against PacWest schools with a win over Hawaii Pacific and Chaminade. The Vulcans finished 2-3-4-5 for 22 points to outpace Chaminade (52) and Hawaii Pacific (84). Chaminade's Nikiji Dayse won the race at the Naniloa Golf Course in 22:28, with Hilo's Kathleen Raab finishing a distance behind her in 22:55. HPU's top runner was Cheyenne Broughton (13th) in 27:09.

LOOKING AHEAD: PacWest teams will begin tapering down, looking ahead to the conference championships in less than two weeks on Oahu at the Hawaii Country Club (8 am Hawaii time). Three teams will race this week in Sunnyvale at the Bronco Invitational (Univ. of Santa Clara)--Fresno Pacific, Dominican and Jessup, while Vanguard and Point Loma will compete in Riverside at the UCR Highlander Invite.