California Baptist University
WAC Championships
CBU Earns Another Individual Champion and Four All-WAC Finishers to Wrap 2024 OTF Championships
5/11/2024 9:38:00 PM | Cross Country & Track
OREM, UT--- The 2024 Western Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships came to a conclusion on Saturday evening as the Lancers brought home another individual champion and several All-WAC finishers.
Lamiae Mamouni opened Championships Saturday for California Baptist in one of her two final events on the day. Mamouni opened with the 1.5K, where she would ultimately finish 10th with a time of 4:42.37. Mamouni would miss out on an All-WAC finish in that event but would redeem herself with a top-5 finish in the 800M just hours after her first run. After falling behind early, Mamouni pushed hard on the final straightaway to claim fourth place at a time of 2:13.37 and earned her a Secon Team All-WAC finish.
The Men's 1.5K was the highlight of the day for the Lancers as Matias Reynaga and Valentin Soca both looked to bring home the event crown. Reynaga would be the one to ultimately claim the Individual Champion title in the race after an incredible final push to earn his first-ever individual title. Reynaga kept a steady pace with the lead pack for the first three and a half laps but would make his move on the final curve to claim his crown, clocking in at 3:43.67. Soca would be right on Reynaga's heels in the race and would earn First Team All-WAC honors and a silver medal with an equally impressive time of 3:44.44.
The times for Reynaga and Soca are the two fastest times in program history for CBU (adjusting for elevation), besting the previous best time that Soca set at last season's WAC Championships by a little under five seconds. The 1-2 finish marks back-to-back seasons the Lancers have had the top two places in the Men's 1.5K after Soca claimed the title last year and Reynaga was the runner-up.
The Women's 5K would be the final event for the Lancers that would yield points as Yasna Petrova would reap a second-straight silver medal run. Petrova would keep pace with two Wolverine runners for nearly the entire race until a late push by Caila Odenkirk of Utah Valley in the final lap would earn the Wolverine the gold. Petrova clocked in at a time of 16:54.74 and would claim the runner-up position for the second straight season.
The Lancers would finish the meet with 23 points on the women's side and 18 points on the men's side while not having any field or sprint competitors.
Five Lancer athletes have earned qualifying times for the West Regionals that will take place in Fayetteville, Arkansas, from May 22-25.
Players Mentioned
