Talal Khan led the men's team today with an impressive 8K time of (25:39.10). Not only did Khan lead the Lancers, but he also finished first overall out of 85 runners to take home the first ever individual conference title for CBU.
"The guys went out today and ran really tough," said head coach Ben Gall. "The conditions were not ideal, with the heat and the humidity, but we ran a very patient race and moved up well in the second half. The guys did what they needed to do to bring home another title."
Chris Cline also had a very impressive race today, finishing second for the Lancers and fifth overall with a time of (26:21.65).
"Chris ran the race of his life today to nab a top five finish," said Gall. "His performance really spurred the rest of the team on during the middle of the race to stay focused and track down the other teams."
Mark Langworthy had a strong performance finishing seventh overall and third for the Lancers with a time of (26:29.45).
Joshua Massey finished 12th overall with a time of (26:51.70) and Trevor Henson placed 15th overall with a time of (27:05.10) capping off the Lancers top five.
CBU finished with 40 points and BYU-Hawaii came in second with 66.
All six CBU runners, including Lucas Graham, who finished 20th, earned all-conference spots.
Despite the women's team missing Ashlee Cervantes and dealing with a rolled ankle from Malaysia Alexander, they still pushed Azusa Pacific to the limit and captured second place.
Jennifer Mallen led the women's team today, third overall out of 90 runners with a 5K time of (18:32.80).
Rebecca Asplund placed 14th overall and second for the Lancers with a time of (19:37.70). Following Asplund was Natalie Ball. Ball finished 15th overall and was only 0.25 seconds behind Asplund.
Bethany Bilton finished 20th overall with a time of (19:41.00) and Naomi Van Setten rounded out the top five for CBU with a time of (19:51.30).
The women scored 74 points and fell short against Azusa Pacific's 62 point finish.
"I was very proud of the women and how they finally put together a race where they ran aggressively and were not afraid to go after their competitors," said Gall. "All season APU has been way ahead of us and today we showed we weren't going down without a fight."
Mallen, Asplund, Ball and Bilton finished all-conference.
CBU runs next at the NCCAA Championships on Nov. 10 in Cedarville, Ohio.
