California Baptist University
WAC Cross Country Championships
CBU's Men Win Back-to-Back WAC Championships with Perfect Score
10/30/2021 4:02:00 PM | Cross Country & Track
The Lancer men won their second-straight WAC team title with a perfect 15-point score and were led by Florian Le Pallec. CBU's women secured a runner-up finish as a team and individually from Greta Karinauskaite as they hosted the WAC Meet for the first time at the UC Riverside Agricultural Operations Course. Both Le Pallec and Karinauskaite set new CBU records on the day, as well.
Coach Adam Tribble was named the WAC Men's Coach of the Year and Karinauskaite the Freshman of the Year. Thirteen Lancers (eight men, five women) earned All-WAC honors with top-20 finishes. Eight of them (five men, three women) were all-conference first teamers by virtue of their top-10 marks.
BACK-TO-BACK 😤
— CBU XC & Track (@CBUXCTF) October 30, 2021
CBU's men repeat as the @WACsports champions with a perfect 15-point score. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/SCEYMsjiFA
CBU's men enjoyed a 27-point cushion in its win, as Utah Valley took second (42) and Grand Canyon came in third (110). The Wolverines won the women's crown with 34 points to just hold off the Lancers (41), while Abilene Christian rounded out the top three teams (62).
Le Pallec jumped out to a lead early and never looked back in the men's 8000-meter race. He won by more than 17 seconds in a CBU record time of 23:18.5. It was the second race in a row Le Pallec has set a Lancer record after he last did so with a 23:29.1 at the NCAA Pre-Nationals Meet on Friday, Oct. 15.
🏆 WAC CHAMPION 🏆
— CBU XC & Track (@CBUXCTF) October 30, 2021
Congratulations to Florian Le Pallec on winning the individual @WACsports championship with an unofficial time of 23:18.5, which shatters his previous CBU 8K record of 23:29.1. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/PlHge4I54D
Ivo Balabanov finished runner-up in 23:35.6 for the Lancers, while Giedrius Valincius (23:51.0), Arturs Medveds (23:57.8) and Said Mechaal (23:58.1) all posted season bests and top-13 8K times in program history as they rounded out the top five in the race and for CBU. They all earned All-WAC First Team recognition as a result.
💯 PERFECTION 💯
— CBU XC & Track (@CBUXCTF) October 30, 2021
CBU logs a perfect 1️⃣5️⃣ point score. Florian Le Pallec, Ivo Balabanov, Giedrius Valincius, Arturs Medveds and Said Mechaal place first through fifth for the Lancers‼️ #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/wqRrhW01ws
Eight of the nine Lancers who ran secured all-conference recognition, as Rikus Van Niekerk (13th, 24:23.8); Matias Reynaga (17th, 24:35.7) and Tyler Tickner (18th, 24:36.9) made the All-WAC Second Team. Massimiliano Berti was not far in 23rd place (24:45.4).
Here's a look at CBU's top 5️⃣ and All-WAC Team finishers:
— CBU XC & Track (@CBUXCTF) October 30, 2021
#️⃣2️⃣ Karinauskaite (19:50.9)
#️⃣5️⃣ Petrova (20:22.1)
#️⃣7️⃣ Hazuchova (20:39.0)
#️⃣1️⃣3️⃣ Viljoen (20:55.1)
#️⃣1️⃣4️⃣ Mate (20:55.2)
It leads the Lancers to a second-place finish as a team with 41 points. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/tUcthrcdFk
On the women's side, Abilene Christian's Irene Rono came away with the individual crown in 19:44.2 and was only pushed by Karinauskaite, who took second in the conference for the second year in a row with a time of 19:50.9. Her time shattered her own personal and CBU's record of 20:19.0.
Yasna Petrova and Liza Hazuchova gave CBU a strong 1-2-3 punch. Petrova took fifth place in 20:22.1 and Hazuchova came in seventh in 20:39.0. Both were season bests for the freshmen and top-11 times ever for the Lancers. They both earned All-WAC First Team honors with Karinauskaite.
Utah Valley's 4-5 runners gave the Wolverines the edge, as they took 10th and 11th just in front of the Lancers' Anneken Viljoen (13th, 20:55.1) and Anna Mate (14th, 20:55.2), who made the All-WAC Second Team. Carlota Rodes (25th, 21:33.2); Paige Haynes (35th, 22:06.9) and Sylvia de la Pena (48th, 22:36.0) rounded out CBU's finishers on the day.
Players Mentioned
