FRESNO, Calif. --- Sergio Rodriguez, Mitchell Moore and Joshua Massey all earned All-GSAC honors and led California Baptist University to a third place finish at the 2010 Golden State Athletic Conference Men's Cross Country Championships Saturday morning at Woodward Park in Fresno.
After two straight seventh place finishes, the Lancer women finished fifth.
In the men's race, the Lancers ran a total team time of 2:09:43, which was three minutes faster than their second-place time last year and also faster than last year's winning time by Westmont.
The NAIA's No. 13-ranked The Master's won the race, and No. 21 Azusa Pacific was second. The Lancers finished ahead of 19th-ranked Vanguard.
"This is a really tough conference to run in, and I thought we ran a good team race," said CBU Head Coach Wade Watkins. "We've been consistent all year and were running well. I am pleased with the way the guys ran today."
Only 22 seconds separated the top five Lancer finishers.
As he has all season, Rodriguez again led the way, finishing 12th with a 25:46. He was closely followed by Moore, who was 13th with a 25:49, and Massey, who was 14th with a 25:53. The top 14 finishers in the race earn All-GSAC honors. It is the first such honor for Rodriguez, Massey and Moore.
Mark Langworthy was 17th (26:07), and Victor Delgado was 18th (26:08) as all five Lancer scorers finished in the top 18. Jonathan Hernandez was 20th (26:13) and Kody Petersen was 25th with a 26:25.
The Lancers will now have to wait until Sunday to see if they earn an at-large berth into the NAIA National Championships. Their case was bolstered by both a strong team-time and by beating No. 19 Vanguard.
In the women's race, the Lancers ran a team-time of 1:36:04 and were just 13th points behind fourth-place Westmont. Biola defeated Azusa Pacific by just one point for the team title.
"This is probably the best conference in the nation on the girls' side," said Watkins. "Still, we ran a good team race and competed very well. One minute separated our top five, which is pretty good. I am really happy with how the girls ran."
Jacquie Lutz finished 20th, narrowly missing out on all-conference honors after running an 18:40. Brenda Perez was 26th with a 19:01. Ana Mendoza was 33rd with a 19:17. Ashlee Cervantes ran a 19:26 to finish 36th, and Naomi Van Setten rounded out the Lancers' scoring with a 19:40, good enough for 41st place.
