Looking Poised for PacWest

Friday, October 7

Riverside, Calif.

9:00 am

California Baptist University

CBU Invite (8K)

Looking Poised for PacWest

10/7/2016 1:05:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Cross Country, Cross Country & Track

By: Sammi Wellman, Director of Sports Information

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Just two weeks before the PacWest Conference Championship, California Baptist University dominated the CBU Invite with ease, looking poised heading into the postseason.

The No. 18-ranked Lancers had six runners in the top 10 to win the invitational with 42 team points Friday morning.

"We were working on the last part of our race so the guys were instructed to not set the pace – we wanted to let everyone else dictate the pace until the end and then finish strong," said Coach Ben Gall. "I thought they did a really good job of that. I don't think the outcome of the race was ever a question, but how we executed our plan is going to pay dividends for later, so that's really good."

Dennis Messmer led the pack of Lancers and won the 8K with a time of 25 minutes, 21.85 seconds.

"Today was pretty easy, it wasn't as fast as last week," said Messmer. "It's so amazing to see so many guys finish in the top 10. Even without Valentin [Robert], we have such a strong team. If one guy has a bad day, it doesn't matter, we're still going to win, like today and hopefully at the PacWest, and go into regionals racing well. We have such a good team that we come into the race with an eased mind, knowing our teammates will run strong."

Putting Messmer's words into action, CBU showed it's a force to be reckoned with, as a slew of gold jerseys came pouring through the finish gates.

Ken Kipkorir was right on his teammate's heels for second place. The sophomore crossed the finish line in 25:23.75. Mirco Zenzen, Jeremiah Gotts, Jayden Emerson and William Ernst rounded out the six Lancers finishing in the top 10, taking seventh through 10^th, respectively. Zenzen clocked in at 25:38.97, while Gotts followed in 25:48.51. Emerson just beat out Ernst by almost one second exactly, crossing the finish line with a time of 25:50.54. Ernst finished the race in 25:51.53.

Jonah Ross led another pack of Lancers through the finish line, taking 15^th overall with a time of 26:19.99 as the final CBU runner to score points. Bismarck Kipkilach followed in 26:29.43, while David Aguilar clocked in at 26:31.86 for 17^th place.

In two weeks, 10 Lancers head to Hilo, Hawaii, to defend their five-straight conference crowns. Last year, nine CBU runners finished with All-PacWest honors, despite only the top-seven finishers actually scoring points for the team.

"I think we're really positive going into the conference meet," Gall said. "There were some things that had to play out today – we had three spots left open [for Hawaii] and five guys trying to fill those spots – but they're all on the same page and excited for it. I think we're much more confident than we've been in the past. They really have their roles defined and they're excited to move forward."