WAIPAHU, Oahu--Preseason and pre-race favorite
Biola lived up to all expectations and more on Saturday morning at the Hawai`i Country Club.
The Eagles ran to their fourth straight Pacific West Conference women's cross country title with 42 points, comfortably ahead of runner-up
Point Loma (69 points). In taking the crown, the Eagles become just the third team to win four straight PacWest trophies, joining Seattle Pacific (1996-99) and California Baptist (2014-17).
While cross country titles are becoming the norm for the Eagles, there was a first amongst their accomplishments today. Senior
Bethany Mapes, who finished third last season, won the individual title today with a time of 21:40.6. Mapes pulled away late to outdistance
Vanguard freshman
Ella Murray and
Point Loma senior
Maddie Reeves. Murray and Reeves were basically a photo finish, with Murray clocking 21:46.4 and Reeves 21:46.5.
Mapes was part of a Biola squad that ran a trio women in the top eight, with all three of them crossing the line in under 22 minutes.
Jaina Kang was sixth in 21:57 and
Madison Ebright was eighth in 21:59.3.
Hailey Wurzbach was 11th (22:17) and
Claire Lesiw crossed in 16th (22:25) to account for the 42 points. All five runners earned All-PacWest honors.
The course was difficult, with 77 degree temperatures with 75 percent humidity. The final stretch was uphill.
"Over that final stretch, I was just trying to push myself really hard," Mapes said right after the race. "It's a tough uphill climp and there was a pack right behind me initially. I was just trying to make up as much ground as I could over a tough climb, and trying hard not to look back."
Point Loma's second place finish came courtesy of Reeves and
Zaila Smith, who was tenth in 22:15.
Vanguard was third (95),
Concordia fourth (110),
Azusa Pacific fifth (132),
Fresno Pacific sixth (157) and
Hawai`i Hilo was seventh (165). Rounding out the team scoring was
Westmont (258),
Chaminade (268),
Jessup (283),
Dominican (311) and
Hawai`i Pacific (311).
After Mapes, Murray and Reeves, the next runners to cross the finish line were
Ania Kapustka of
Concordia (21:53),
Azusa Pacific's Sophia Godina (21:56), Biola's Kang, and
Vanguard's Kate Baranski (21:58). The top seven earn First Team All-PacWest honors. Second team honors go to eighth place Ebright of Biola,
Elizabeth King of
Concordia (9th, 22:13), Smith (10th), Wurzbach (11th),
Hawai`i Hilo's Sequioa Gonzalez (12th),
Point Loma's Aubrey Gentry (13th), Hilo's
Kathleen Raab (14th) and
Chaminade's Nikiji Dayse (15th).
"I was really proud of Bethany for getting that conference championship," said Biola head coach
Sean Henning, who has been the Eagle leader for all four titles. "She has been working towards that for four years now. She ran a very smart race and didn't take the lead until the last few minutes.
"In all, the girls had a very good day. When you have won three in a row, all eyes are on you and you have a bit of a target on your back. That wasn't what we wanted to focus on, we just wanted to execute a great race based on our ability. It wasn't perfect, but there were some really good things to take from it. Now we will get ready for NCAA West Regionals in two weeks."
FINAL RESULTS
BIOLA CHAMPIONSHIP GEAR