As the Eagles’ cross country season quickly comes to an end, both the men’s and women’s cross country teams prepare to compete in the Golden State Athletic Conference Championship invitational.

Second Place

With the men’s team not competing in the Titan Invitational, the women runners earned second place with five of them finishing in the top half. The Eagles’ ended within three points of Loyola Marymount University with 43 points. In the 5K race, the team also earned a total time of 1:35:46.11 and an average time of 19:09.23. Junior Alisa Murray led the Eagles and ended up in 12th place with a time of 18:39.31. Following behind Murray was freshman Melissa Ledesma in 17th place with 18:53.62, and sophomore Hannah Hunsaker who earned 26th place in 19:14.11.

Looking back on the men’s team season, they have been unable to break into the top three in any other invitational. They finished fifth in the UC Irvine Invitational, the Triton Invitational and the Bronco Invitational and fell to 12th place in the Mustang Challenge.

Championship Fashion

The women started off the season in championship fashion. They took first place overall in the UC Irvine Invitational and the Bronco Invitational, and have finished in the top four in all of their invites.

Meeting the Eagles to compete in the GSAC championship invitational are the Arizona Christian University Firestorm, Hope International University Royals, Menlo College Oaks, San Diego Christian University Hawks, The Master’s College Mustangs, Vanguard University Lions, William Jessup University Warriors and the reigning champion Westmont College Warriors. In 2014, the men runners finished the championship in sixth place out of the nine other schools. The women ended the tournament in third place, following behind The Master’s College and Westmont College.

Determining the Top

These teams will travel from near and far to Irvine Regional Park on Nov. 7 at 9:00 a.m. to determine who will be the top team in their GSAC division.