Saturday, October 30
Riverside, Calif.
9 AM/10 AM
California Baptist University
vs
WAC Cross Country Championships
Photo by: Zac Zeman zaczeman.com
XC PREVIEW: Both Lancer Squads Favored for WAC Championship Defense in Riverside
10/27/2021 9:00:00 AM | Cross Country & Track
RIVERSIDE – It will be hard for California Baptist University cross country to come up with an encore from last season's perfect sweep at the Western Athletic Conference Championships. The Lancers are certainly eyeing more hardware as they head into the 2021 WAC Meet on Saturday.
CBU will be hosting the meet for the first time at the UC Riverside Ag Ops Course this year. The men's 8,000-meter race is set to begin at 9 a.m. and the women's 6K is set for a 10 a.m. start. The event is free and open to the public.
Free parking can be found at UC Riverside Parking Lot 30, which is a short walk from the Ag Ops Course. Participants and spectators will need to complete a UCR wellness check the day of the event located HERE.
CBU swept both team and individual titles last season, with a total of 14 all-conference finishers (eight men, six women). The Lancers' women are undefeated since joining the WAC, with three-straight conference titles, while the men's 2020 victory was their first in the conference after a runner-up finish in 2019.
A pre-championship poll of the WAC coaches released on Wednesday revealed CBU as the favorite on both sides going into this weekend. The Lancers' men received all 12 of the possible first-place votes and 144 points on the men's side, while the women got eight first-place votes and 139 points. The path to victory will be tougher than ever since the WAC expanded this year, which added four new teams on the men's and women's side in Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin.
A LOOK AT THE MEN
CBU's nine-man lineup is made up of Ivo Balabanov, Massimiliano Berti, Florian Le Pallec, Said Mechaal, Arturs Medveds, Matias Reynaga, Tyler Tickner, Giedrius Valincius and Rikus Van Niekerk.
Valincius is the reigning individual WAC champion, while Le Pallec (fourth) and Van Niekerk (ninth) also earned all-conference honors in 2020. Le Pallec, Balabanov and Valincius have scored in every race they've ran so far this season for CBU, while Mechaal has scored in his last three meets.
The men have been in strong form this year, with four team wins in five meets. They have nine new top-25 times in the program's 8K history. Four of them came at the Florida State Invitational/NCAA Pre-Nationals meet on Oct. 15, led by Le Pallec's 8K record time of 23 minutes, 29.1 seconds and followed by Balabanov (23:56.3, No. 7); Mechaal (24:03.1, No. 11) and Valincius (24:04.2, No. 12).
A LOOK AT THE WOMEN
The Lancer women are sending out a lineup of Sylvia de la Pena, Karin Gosek, Paige Haynes, Liza Hazuchova, Greta Karinauskaite, Anna Mate, Yasna Petrova, Carlotta Rodes and Anneken Viljoen.
Mate won the 2020 WAC title after a runner-up finish in 2019 and eighth-place mark the year before. Karinauskaite will look to build on her top-three time from last year's WAC meet. Six of the seven other runners are newcomers to the WAC Cross Country Meet.
CBU started this season by winning its first three meets as a team and have set seven new top-25 individual 6K times on the year. Five of those times came for the Lancers at the UC Riverside Invitational, which was also hosted at the UCR Ag Ops Course. Karinauskaite set a new program record that day at 20:19, while Mate (20:38.9, No. 7); Petrova (20:44.3, No. 15); Viljoen (20:44.7, No. 16) and Hazuchova (20:54.7, No. 22) made history, as well.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION
Event: WAC Championships
Date: Saturday, Oct. 30
Times: Men's 8K at 9 a.m. | Women's 6K at 10 a.m.
Location: Riverside, Calif. (UCR Ag Ops Course)
Live Results: Finished Results
Live Video: ESPN+ | WAC Digital Network (international viewers only)
CBU will be hosting the meet for the first time at the UC Riverside Ag Ops Course this year. The men's 8,000-meter race is set to begin at 9 a.m. and the women's 6K is set for a 10 a.m. start. The event is free and open to the public.
Free parking can be found at UC Riverside Parking Lot 30, which is a short walk from the Ag Ops Course. Participants and spectators will need to complete a UCR wellness check the day of the event located HERE.
𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 😤@WACsports Championships are Saturday at the UC Riverside Ag Ops Course starting at 9AM ➖ be there‼️ #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/TVpWbxoaLM
— CBU XC & Track (@CBUXCTF) October 27, 2021
CBU swept both team and individual titles last season, with a total of 14 all-conference finishers (eight men, six women). The Lancers' women are undefeated since joining the WAC, with three-straight conference titles, while the men's 2020 victory was their first in the conference after a runner-up finish in 2019.
A pre-championship poll of the WAC coaches released on Wednesday revealed CBU as the favorite on both sides going into this weekend. The Lancers' men received all 12 of the possible first-place votes and 144 points on the men's side, while the women got eight first-place votes and 139 points. The path to victory will be tougher than ever since the WAC expanded this year, which added four new teams on the men's and women's side in Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin.
| 2021 WAC PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP MEN'S XC COACHES' POLL | ||
|---|---|---|
| RANK | SCHOOL (FIRST-PLACE VOTES) | POINTS |
| 1. | California Baptist (12) | 144 |
| 2. | Utah Valley (1) | 131 |
| 3. | Grand Canyon | 122 |
| 4. | Lamar | 105 |
| 5. | Abilene Christian | 97 |
| 6. | Sam Houston | 84 |
| 7. | Stephen F. Austin | 71 |
| 8. | UT Rio Grande Valley | 63 |
| 9. | Dixie State | 57 |
| 10. | NM State | 48 |
| 11. | Tarleton State | 41 |
| 12. | Seattle U | 39 |
| 13. | Chicago State | 12 |
| 2021 WAC PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP WOMEN'S XC COACHES' POLL | ||
|---|---|---|
| RANK | SCHOOL (FIRST-PLACE VOTES) | POINTS |
| 1. | California Baptist (8) | 139 |
| 2. | Abilene Christian (3) | 127 |
| 3. | Utah Valley (2) | 125 |
| 4. | NM State | 115 |
| 5. | Grand Canyon | 99 |
| 6. | Stephen F. Austin | 76 |
| 7. | Seattle U | 74 |
| 8. | Dixie State | 68 |
| 9. | Sam Houston | 59 |
| 10. | UT Rio Grande Valley | 51 |
| 11. | Lamar | 44 |
| 12. | Tarleton State | 25 |
| 13. | Chicago State | 12 |
📢 Announcing the 2021 #WACxc men's and women's pre-championship polls!
— The Western Athletic Conference (@WACsports) October 27, 2021
📰 - https://t.co/S0ilqYAfMs
🏃♂️🏃♀️ @CBUXCTF is picked to win 🏆
📺 @Kendrasheehan_ has the story ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/gLYTkk4hwV
A LOOK AT THE MEN
CBU's nine-man lineup is made up of Ivo Balabanov, Massimiliano Berti, Florian Le Pallec, Said Mechaal, Arturs Medveds, Matias Reynaga, Tyler Tickner, Giedrius Valincius and Rikus Van Niekerk.
Valincius is the reigning individual WAC champion, while Le Pallec (fourth) and Van Niekerk (ninth) also earned all-conference honors in 2020. Le Pallec, Balabanov and Valincius have scored in every race they've ran so far this season for CBU, while Mechaal has scored in his last three meets.
The men have been in strong form this year, with four team wins in five meets. They have nine new top-25 times in the program's 8K history. Four of them came at the Florida State Invitational/NCAA Pre-Nationals meet on Oct. 15, led by Le Pallec's 8K record time of 23 minutes, 29.1 seconds and followed by Balabanov (23:56.3, No. 7); Mechaal (24:03.1, No. 11) and Valincius (24:04.2, No. 12).
📝📝📝
— CBU XC & Track (@CBUXCTF) October 22, 2021
Here's a look at our lineup for the 2021 @WACsports Championships, which we will host at the UC Riverside Ag Ops Course on Saturday, Oct. 30. The 8K men's race is set for a 9 AM start. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/4NOZbMdUPL
A LOOK AT THE WOMEN
The Lancer women are sending out a lineup of Sylvia de la Pena, Karin Gosek, Paige Haynes, Liza Hazuchova, Greta Karinauskaite, Anna Mate, Yasna Petrova, Carlotta Rodes and Anneken Viljoen.
Mate won the 2020 WAC title after a runner-up finish in 2019 and eighth-place mark the year before. Karinauskaite will look to build on her top-three time from last year's WAC meet. Six of the seven other runners are newcomers to the WAC Cross Country Meet.
CBU started this season by winning its first three meets as a team and have set seven new top-25 individual 6K times on the year. Five of those times came for the Lancers at the UC Riverside Invitational, which was also hosted at the UCR Ag Ops Course. Karinauskaite set a new program record that day at 20:19, while Mate (20:38.9, No. 7); Petrova (20:44.3, No. 15); Viljoen (20:44.7, No. 16) and Hazuchova (20:54.7, No. 22) made history, as well.
Here's who will represent the women at the 2021 @WACsports Championships. The women's 6K will begin at 10 AM. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/ES4xBkRAQD
— CBU XC & Track (@CBUXCTF) October 22, 2021
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION
Event: WAC Championships
Date: Saturday, Oct. 30
Times: Men's 8K at 9 a.m. | Women's 6K at 10 a.m.
Location: Riverside, Calif. (UCR Ag Ops Course)
Live Results: Finished Results
Live Video: ESPN+ | WAC Digital Network (international viewers only)
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