The Master's University cross-country teams competed and won against a high-caliber field on their home turf at Central Park in Santa Clarita, Calif., Saturday.
Senior captain Hannah Fredericks took home the individual title on the women's side. The TMU men also defeated a talented NCAA field to win the overall team title for the third year in a row.
Fredericks took control mid-race and never looked back. Her time of 21:07 on a hilly course was almost 30 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. This was her third individual victory in a row and her second by over a half-minute.
The third-ranked TMU women, fresh off their win at the Larry Young Invitational, finished in a close second to Salt Lake College, despite having the fastest overall team time of the 29-team field.
Sophomore Suzie Johnson had a breakthrough race, finishing fifth overall with a time of 21:39. Johnson finished second on the Mustangs and provided a much-needed low stick, with senior All-American Ellen Palmgren having an off-day.
"What an opportunity it is to race on our home course, surrounded by friends, family and faculty cheering," Johnson said. "Praise the Lord for such a sweet turnout today, and we had tough competition which always makes a race more engaging. It's always fun competing on a course that we've practiced many hours on, and we look forward to getting to race it again this November."
Emma Nelson continued her impressive junior campaign with another top-10 finish, running 21:47. Ella Howe (22:39) in 21st and Erini Shaker (22:45) in 23rd completed the Mustangs scoring five.
On the men's side, the second-ranked Mustangs continued to improve, as they defended home turf and took home the overall team win by three points. Senior
Connor Ybarra (24:22) and junior
Jack Anderson (24:22) led the Mustangs with third and fourth place finishes, respectively.
"The race was great and it was fun to compete with my teammates at the end. Praise God for the strength he provided today, as it was very difficult," Ybarra said. "The team had a great day today and I'm looking forward to upcoming couple of weeks as we prep for the next couple of races."
Two Mustang seniors, in
Nate Day (24:37) and
Hunter Romine (24:55) turned in huge personal bests and gave TMU a much-needed boost with their top 20 finishes. The Mustang men defeated NCAA opponent, Cal-Poly SLO, and a host of other NCAA and NAIA squads.
The Mustangs will have two weeks to train before returning to UC Riverside for the Highlander Invitational in Riverside, Calif. on Oct. 19.
