TMU Cross Country made countless pieces of history on Saturday at the Golden State Athletic Conference Championships.
The Mustang men broke a GSAC record for most-consecutive conference championships in any sport with 12, while the women's team won a second-straight GSAC title for the first time in program history.
Master's claimed both team championships and individual titles for the first time ever.
Davis Boggess set a Santa Clarita Central Park 8K course record, while
Hannah Fredericks became the first TMU freshman to win the GSAC individual crown.
The list seemingly goes on and on.
"Today I am humbled to see God's hand of blessing and faithfulness to The Master's University running program," Master's Head Coach
Zach Schroeder said. "There's not a group I would rather win with than this team because of the heart with which they compete.
"They are passionate about proclaiming Christ, win or lose. I am thankful for the victory today because it provided us an opportunity to declare that Jesus is Lord from the podium, but I am confident my team would have praised Christ even if we had not won."
Boggess became the second Mustang to win back-to-back GSAC individual cross country titles, winning the men's 8K in a time of 24:41.0, almost 20 seconds ahead of his next-closest competitor.
Hannah Fredericks, who was also named GSAC Freshman of the Year, placed first in the women's 5K after crossing the line in 17:31.2 to win her race by 12 seconds.
In total, Master's placed a combined 12 runners on the two All-GSAC Teams. The men finished first with a team score of 21, while the women won their race with a score of 38.
The TMU men had four runners in the top-five and a total of seven Mustangs earn All-GSAC honors, meaning half of the 14 competitors to earn All-Conference recognition donned a Master's uniform on Saturday.
Joining Boggess on the All-GSAC Team were
Daniel Rush (third - 25:06.4),
Wesley Methum (fourth - 25:09.6),
Brint Laubach (fifth - 25:11.1),
Zach Garey (eighth - 25:43.8),
Andrew Cross (12th - 26:03.8) and
JJ Duarte (14th - 26:06.1).
"When I reflect on the past 12 years, it is so evident that the Lord is the One who gave each victory," Schroeder said. "Our men's team's performance betters our previous school record on the course by almost two minutes. Davis setting a new course record shows these guys are peaking right at the right time."
Besides Fredericks, The Master's women had four other Mustangs earn All-GSAC honors.
Arianna Ghiorso (sixth - 18:10.0),
Ellen Palmgren (eighth - 18:41.7),
Kimberly Page (10th - 18:43.0) and
Sophie Southerden (13th - 18:45.0) rounded out TMU's representatives on the All-GSAC Team.
"Some of our top girls had a bit of an off day, but
Ellen Palmgren really stepped up to fill the gap," Schroeder said. "She finished third for us, which shows the depth and potential of our women's team. Of course, it goes without saying that Hannah's first-place finish as a freshman is significant."
Schroeder was voted GSAC Coach of the Year on the men's side for the 12th time, while he earned the honor on the women's side for the third time.
"We are so thankful for all the support of the TMU community and all of our parents," Schroeder said. "They were out in full force today. We could feel the love and it definitely gave us an advantage.
"Christ said the world would know that we're His disciples by our love for one another. The love put on display today was undeniable."
Both Master's teams earn an automatic berth to the NAIA National Championships on Nov. 19 in Vancouver, Washington.
