ROCKLIN, Calif.—Biola was the preseason and pre race favorite to win the Pacific West Conference Women’s Cross Country Championships, so when they did win their fifth straight title today at Jessup’s campus course, it was no big surprise.

The surprise came in the package of who won the individual race. Biola freshman Alyssa Lopez ran away from the lead pack on the back stretch to shock the field and win in a time of 21:53 on the 6K course..

All the other favorites on paper finished just behind her as the true freshman from La Quinta not only won for the first time as a collegian, she won the conference championship in her first attempt.

Lopez and her teammates finished 1-3-6-8-10 to tally 28 team points for the win. Concordia was next with 49, followed by Vanguard (83), Point Loma (106) and Westmont (147) to round out the top five.

Hawaii Hilo (199) just edged Jessup (200) for sixth, Hawaii Pacific was eighth (233), Dominican was ninth (252) and Chaminade was tenth (268).

"I'm very proud of the ladies for doing something that has never been done in this conference, winning five straight conference titles," said Biola head coach Sean Henning. "We have a very deep squad and I felt like we could have won any number of ways. We had four girls I legitimately thought had a shot at winning, including Alyssa."

Lopez ran in the lead pack in the first two miles, which wasn’t unusual but what was unexpected was that she stayed there. Her teammates Jaina Kang, Claire Lesiw and Hailey Wurzbach were along side her, along with Vanguard’s Ella Murray and Concordia’s Ania Kapustka.

At just past three miles, Kapustka, Kang, Wurzbach and Lopez separated themselves from the lead pack. A little further down the course it became Lopez, Kang and Kapustka battling down the final stretch.

In the final 200-400 meters, Lopez sprinted away from the group and crossed the line comfortably three seconds ahead of Kapustka (21:56) and Kang (21:57).

Kang was the PacWest Freshman of the year in 2024 and Kapsustka was the Newcomer of the Year in 2025. Murray, who finished fourth, was the Freshman of the Year last year.

Lopez, now joins that group as very likely the Freshman of the Year in 2026, along with the title of PacWest Champion.

After Lopez, Kapustka, Kang, and Murray, finishing in fifth was CUI’s Brianna Hayes (22:10.0), Lesiw (22:10.5) and Concordia’s Ryann Smith (22:14), all earning First Team All-PacWest honors. Rounding out the top ten was Wurzbach in eighth (22:26), Angela Gladysh of Jessup in ninth (22:30) and Kurtz in tenth (22:33).

It was Biola’s fifth straight title, a new conference record. Lopez becomes BU’s third individual champion, joining Bethany Mapes (2025) and Lynette Ruiz (2022).

While most were surprised in Lopez's finished, Henning was not.

"I'm not at all surprised, she ran a very smart race and took her time, not taking the lead until the last 400 meters," Henning added. "Watch out for this girl, she's got a lot more in her.

"The girls as a whole did a good job, but we do have some things to work on if we are going to be where we want to be in two weeks at regionals. Jaina ran a smart and patient race and just missed the move that took her out of winning, but she'll be just fine. Same with Claire, a good but not great day but I know she'll be ready in two weeks to finish in the top 15 in the region."