Thursday, May 26
Bradenton, Fla.
All Day
California Baptist University
vs
NCAA Division II Championships
Photo by: Sammi Wellman
Five Lancers Running For A Title
5/17/2016 2:00:00 PM | Men's Track, Women's Track, Cross Country & Track
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Three California Baptist University runners are headed back to the NCAA Division II Championship Meet next week, hoping to improve on last year's performances. For two Lancers, it will be a new experience, but they are eager to compete.
Both Veronica Hall and Berenice Cleyet-Merle qualified on the women's side, with Hall making her second trip to the big stage. Last year, Hall put herself on the podium in the 1500-meter race with a seventh-place finish in four minutes, 26.36 seconds. This year, Hall made the cut with a time of 4:26.15, which ranks sixth across Division II.
Cleyet-Merle will join Hall in the 1500m. It will be a good battle between the two Lancers as both have held the school record at some point this season. Cleyet-Merle currently holds the better time with a 4:23.24, which she grabbed at the Oxy Invitational. It puts her third in all of the division heading into her first NCAA Division II Championship Meet.
On the men's side, Valentin Robert and Abdel El-Hajjami return for their second 3,000-meter steeplechase. Robert took 10th overall last year with a time of 9:05.24 to earn himself All-American recognition. Heading into this year's championship, Robert boasts the third-fastest time in all of Division II (8:50.89), which also happens to be the CBU record.
El-Hajjami also gets another shot at the steeplechase event, coming in ranking 15th in the division. He has a season-best time of 9:01.04 — which he grabbed at the Mt. SAC Relays despite battling injuries this season — but is ready to break nine minutes once again.
Making his NCAA Division II Championship debut, Anthony Lozano enters the 1500-meter race as the 15th best time in the division. The junior shaved off invaluable time at the Oxy Invitational to grab a provisional mark and followed with a subtler time improvement the next week. It may have been under one second of an improvement, but it moved him up eight spots in the rankings to better his chance at going to the championship meet. Lozano enters as the 15th-ranked runner in the 1500m.
The NCAA Division II Championship Meet, held in Bradenton, Fla., begins next Thursday, May 26th, with the preliminary rounds of both the 1500m and 3K steeplechase events. If they advance to the finals, Robert and El-Hajjami would have a quick turnaround with the finals happening Friday evening. Saturday closes out the three-day meet, hosted by the University of Tampa and IMG Academy, with the 1500m finals for the Lancers.
Both Veronica Hall and Berenice Cleyet-Merle qualified on the women's side, with Hall making her second trip to the big stage. Last year, Hall put herself on the podium in the 1500-meter race with a seventh-place finish in four minutes, 26.36 seconds. This year, Hall made the cut with a time of 4:26.15, which ranks sixth across Division II.
Cleyet-Merle will join Hall in the 1500m. It will be a good battle between the two Lancers as both have held the school record at some point this season. Cleyet-Merle currently holds the better time with a 4:23.24, which she grabbed at the Oxy Invitational. It puts her third in all of the division heading into her first NCAA Division II Championship Meet.
On the men's side, Valentin Robert and Abdel El-Hajjami return for their second 3,000-meter steeplechase. Robert took 10th overall last year with a time of 9:05.24 to earn himself All-American recognition. Heading into this year's championship, Robert boasts the third-fastest time in all of Division II (8:50.89), which also happens to be the CBU record.
El-Hajjami also gets another shot at the steeplechase event, coming in ranking 15th in the division. He has a season-best time of 9:01.04 — which he grabbed at the Mt. SAC Relays despite battling injuries this season — but is ready to break nine minutes once again.
Making his NCAA Division II Championship debut, Anthony Lozano enters the 1500-meter race as the 15th best time in the division. The junior shaved off invaluable time at the Oxy Invitational to grab a provisional mark and followed with a subtler time improvement the next week. It may have been under one second of an improvement, but it moved him up eight spots in the rankings to better his chance at going to the championship meet. Lozano enters as the 15th-ranked runner in the 1500m.
The NCAA Division II Championship Meet, held in Bradenton, Fla., begins next Thursday, May 26th, with the preliminary rounds of both the 1500m and 3K steeplechase events. If they advance to the finals, Robert and El-Hajjami would have a quick turnaround with the finals happening Friday evening. Saturday closes out the three-day meet, hosted by the University of Tampa and IMG Academy, with the 1500m finals for the Lancers.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Track
/ Men's Track
/ Women's Track
/ Cross Country & Track
/ Men's Track
CBU Volleyball Hype Video 2025
Monday, September 22
CBU Men's Soccer Hype Video 2025
Friday, September 05
CBU Women's Soccer Hype Video 2025
Monday, September 01
Beyond The: Course w/ Baiplu Pusanisa Ekkantrong
Wednesday, May 28
