Women's Cross Country

Murray Musters Great Race at The Master's

Vanguard's Ella Murray finishes fifth in a talented draw, leading her team to a sixth place placing overall.

Vanguard edged fourth other PacWest teams and finished sixth overall at the talent-heavy The Master's Invitational in Santa Clarita on Saturday. Ella Murray led the way with a fifth-place crossing on the 6K course in 22:03 for Vanguard and her first PacWest Runner of the Week. 

2025 Results/Schedule
2025 USTFCCCA Regional and National Polls
 
RUNNER OF THE WEEK: Vanguard's Ella Murray, Fr., Westminster, Calif.                                                                        
Vanguard's Ella Murray, running in just her second collegiate race, was the top Division II runner in a packed field of over 200 competitors at The Master's Invitational at Central Park in Santa Clarita. The freshman clocked 22:03 in her first 6K race, leading all runners against four PacWest schools. Murray trailed only TMU's Suzie Johnson and three Division I runners from Hawai`i and Loyola Marymount. The southern Cal native finished seventh in her first college race the week previous and made a big jump in week two finishing ahead of PacWest runners from Azusa Pacific, Westmont and Fresno Pacific. 

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Vanguard Lions                                                                                                                                    
Vanguard was impressive in Santa Clarita, finishing sixth of 20 teams at The Master's Invitational. The Lions (128 points) finished ahead of eighth-place Azusa Pacific (204), tenth-place Westmont (319) and 12rh place Fresno Pacific (360). Vanguard trailed winner Loyola Marymount (77), San Diego (82), Hawaii (92), Embry-Riddle (95), and host The Master's (127) by just one point. After freshman Ella Murray's finish, teammate Lauren Pahl was the next Vanguard finisher in 20th (22:48), Zoe Tavares was 25th (23:12) and Madyson Nakamura was the next Lion (23:18). 

PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: In Santa Clarita ,Azusa Pacific was eighth with two runners in the top 25. Sophia Godina was 10th in a very talented field (22:24) and Sofia Vasquez was 22nd (22:57) on the 6K course...Fresno Pacific crossed in 12th place, led by Aly Chavez's 33rd place time of 23:31...Westmont was tenth, paced by the 38th place listing of Sophie Stoddart (23:24)...On Oahu, Hawai`i Hilo won the race in a battle of the three island teams. The Vulcans finished with a team score of 17, with Chaminade next at 42 (HPU did not have enough runners for a team score). UHH ran to the top three spots, with Kathleen Raab winning the 5K race in 19:21, followed by Sequoia Gonzales (19:31) and Samantha Morinaga (20:04). Chaminade's top runner was fourth, Jocelyn Thomas in 20:11 and HPU's leader was Carly Dyer (sixth place) in 20:53.

LOOKING AHEAD:  Three races are on tap next Saturday (Sept. 27), with a trio of squads competing at the UC Riverside Invitational (Concordia, Fresno Pacific and Biola). Jessup will be in Monmouth, Oregon at the site of November's NCAA West Region Championships, and Hawai`i Pacific, Hawai`i Hilo and Chaminade will be running at the site of the PacWest Championships, the Hawai`i Country Club.