Men and women’s cross country compete in the PacWest Championships

The Eagles placed Top 3 in the final conference.

Natalie Willis, Editor-in-Chief • October 23, 2021

Men and women’s cross country compete in the PacWest Championships

Photo courtesy of Courtesy of Biola Athletics (file)

Men and women’s cross country traveled to Kahuku, Hawaii on Oct. 23 to compete in the PacWest Conference finale. Both teams finished strong with women finishing second and men coming in third.

SECOND PLACE SUCCESS

The women came together in a tremendous team effort to earn second place.

The team had seven runners place in the Top 16, ending with a score of 43 points. Freshman Lynetter Ruiz led the Eagles, placing second as an individual with a time of 22:19.2.

Graduate Daisy Romero was the second Eagle to cross the finish line in eighth place at 23:10.3 with graduate Mackenna Mason following in ninth place with a time of 23:15.6.

The men’s team also earned a Top 3 spot coming in third place behind Fresno Pacific University and Azusa Pacific University. The men had a combined time of 2:09.45, earning them 60 total points.

LANDING TOP 3

Leading the men, redshirt sophomore Ronald Kigen earned seventh place with a time of 25:24.3. Following his lead, three Eagles—redshirt freshman Jerry Balzter, redshirt junior Brady DeHaven and sophomore Ryan Sorenson—finished 10th, 11th and 12th. The three athletes finished within seconds of each other with Balzter leading them at 25:56.1, DeHaven at 25.57.6 and Sorenson finishing at 26.01.7.

With the end of the regular season, men’s and women’s cross country will travel to Monmouth, Oregon for the NCAA West Region Championship on Nov. 6. Stats for today’s race are located on the Biola Athletics website.

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About the Contributor

Natalie Willis, Editor-in-Chief

Natalie Willis is a junior journalism major who loves golden retrievers, Wes Anderson movies and rainy days. Hi! I am from Bakersfield, CA, land of cows and oil rigs. Growing up on a farm with a veterinarian father, I assumed I would follow in his footsteps to pursue a career in agriculture. God had other plans. Reluctantly, I listened but had every intention to switch my major from journalism to pretty much anything else. Half way through my freshman year, I was working on a portfolio project which involved pitching ideas, interviewing sources and telling a story—suddenly, everything clicked into place. I loved what I was doing, who I was meeting and where I thought I could go. God has a way of telling us we are on the right path and I have felt that throughout my college career. Three years ago, if someone told me I would be the editor-in-chief of a student news publication I would have politely advised them to seek counseling. Now, I cannot imagine a life without tight story deadlines and strict adherence to AP style. I am so excited to lead The Chimes this year as we enter into a new era of print media.