Somogyi, Lancers Stake Claim

Saturday, October 22

Hilo, Hawaii

10:00 am

California Baptist University

PacWest Championship

Somogyi, Lancers Stake Claim

10/22/2016 6:28:00 PM | Women's Cross Country, Cross Country, Cross Country & Track

By: Sammi Wellman, Director of Sports Information

RESULTS

KE'AHU, Hawaii — For the past three years, California Baptist University has staked its claim in the PacWest Women's Cross Country Championship. Saturday, the No. 8-ranked Lancers grabbed their third consecutive, fourth overall conference championship and saw their first individual win too.

"It was really muddy and slow, but overall a good race," said Coach Ben Gall. "We came in pretty confident and stuck to our plan. We had fun with the mud. We knew it'd be slow, but we adapted well to that."

CBU finished with 23 team points – its lowest point total in program history. No. 16-ranked Point Loma took second with 45 points, while Academy of Art finished third with 112 points.

"PLNU ran really well," said Gall. "We knew the Sea Lions would be tough, but if we were relaxed and took care of business, we knew we'd be ok."

Nine of the Lancers' 10 runners grabbed all-conference honors, led by Anett Somogyi, the first CBU woman to win the PacWest individual title. It also marked the first time a freshman has won the individual crown. Somogyi crossed the finish line in 23 minutes, 8.31 seconds, making her move about halfway through the 6K.

"It's pretty impressive to see a freshman be the first to win an individual title," said Gall. "Anett felt comfortable going into the race and made a push in the middle of the race to get away from everyone."

Katie Deimling and Fruzsi Ladanyi finished third and fourth overall to each pick up All-PacWest first team honors. Deimling clocked in at 23:24.65, while Ladanyi finished in 23:33.55.

"It was great to see three of our girls finish in front of Azusa Pacific's Eileen Stressling, who won last year and is an All-American," added Gall.

Claire Rainey took seventh overall to give CBU its fourth first team all-conference runner, crossing the finish line in 24:21.92. She just beat out teammate Emeline Delanis, who took eighth with a time of 24:23.95 for second team All-PacWest honors.

While only five runners score, the next two runners can help displace points for other teams. Leanda du Bruyn and Berenice Cleyet-Merle didn't score as CBU's sixth and seventh runners, but each earned themselves all-conference second team recognition. Du Bruyn took 11^th overall with a time of 24:32.86, while Cleyet-Merle finished in 24:33.40 for 12^th.

Kate Robinson (24:39.95, 15^th) and Charlie Davidson (25:02.61, 18^th) rounded out the all-conference honorees for the Lancers. Kim Rabenstein was just on the outskirts, taking 23^rd overall – top 21 runners make up the All-PacWest teams – and finishing with a time of 25:11.88.

The Lancers have one more guaranteed race, the NCAA Division II West Regional on Nov. 5 in Billings, Mont., but will look to qualify for the NCAA DII Championship (Nov. 19 in St. Leo, Fla.) with a top-six team finish at the regional. CBU is the favorite to win the regional, sitting atop the West Region rankings, and qualify for the DII championship meet for the second year in a row.