California Baptist University
NCAA DI West Regionals
Men and Women Each Take Fourth at West Regionals
11/10/2023 4:24:00 PM | Cross Country & Track
SACRAMENTO--- The California Baptist University cross-country team competed in its second NCAA DI West Regionals, with both teams picking up fourth-place finishes. The placement gives both teams excellent chances at earning at-large bids to the National Championship races in Virginia next week. Still, both will have to await official announcements from the NCAA subcommittee.
The women's 6K kickstarted the West Regionals in Sacramento, with seven runners representing the Lancers. CBU entered the race as the fifth-ranked squad in the West Region, trailing PAC-12 heavyweights Stanford, Washington, Oregon, and Oregon State. The Lancers finished ahead of Oregon State and trailed the other three at the race's conclusion, garnering 126 points. CBU was only 11 points behind third-place Washington and 47 points ahead of their next competitor, Gonzaga.
Women take fourth in the West Regionals, including a second-place finish by Greta Karinauskiate!! The Lancers will await news from the NCAA subcommittee about an at-large bid to Nationals. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/De8yHLPljp
— CBU XC & Track (@CBUXCTF) November 10, 2023
Greta Kairnauskaite paced the women's team, running a time of 19:12.4, the fourth-fastest time ever run on the Arcade Creek Cross-Country Course. Greta was the Individual Champion at the Western Athletic Conference Championships race and the top placer at the Roy Griak Invitational this season. Greta's performance has earned an automatic bid to Nationals, no matter the outcome of the team's outcome tomorrow afternoon. Behind Karinauskaite was Yasna Petrova, who put together her best race of the fall with an eighth-place finish and helped the women earn their impressive score. Emilia Mikszuta and Marina Trave each earned top 30 finishes in the race, running 20:12.9 and 20:19.7, respectively.
The men's 10K closed the day at West Regionals, a race where the Lancers entered as the favorites. The men have been at the top of the West Region standings for the past three weeks and were ranked fourth nationally heading into the day. The men paced out a tremendous showing against the top-level competition and ended up in the fourth spot. The Lancers and Portland tied for third with 125 points, but third place was awarded to the Pilots by virtue of a tiebreaker.
Valentin Soca was the top finisher for CBU, running a personal best of 29:02.0, finishing six seconds behind the Individual Champion Ky Robinson of Stanford. Arturs Medveds, who has been the men's top finisher through most of the season, was the next placer in ninth at 29:21.2. Following Medveds were Giedrius Valincius, Rikus Van Niekerk and Matias Reynaga, who all finished in the top 50.
The men and women topped their performances from last season, placing fifth in the race. That season, only the women were awarded an at-large bid to the National Championships; however, a pair of fourth-place finishes give the Lancers a high probability of both teams earning their way to Nationals in Virginia for the first time in program history in just their second season eligible.
Players Mentioned
