California Baptist University
NCAA National Championships
Soca Brings Home Second Team All-American Honors and a Piece of History for CBU Track
6/5/2024 10:06:00 PM | Cross Country & Track
EUGENE, ORE.--- History was once again made by the California Baptist University track team as it saw its first-ever male All-American on Wednesday evening, with Valentin Soca bringing home the prestigious honor in the Men's 10K Finals.
Soca kicked off day one of the 2024 Outdoor Track and Field Championships for the Lancers at historic Hayward Field in the first track final event of the weekend: the Men's 10K. Soca would face stiff competition, including four returners from last year's field, as well as two top 10 finishers in Patrick and Victor Kiprop from Arkansas and Alabama, respectively. Habtom Samuel of New Mexico was the leader in the event heading into the race after recording a time of 28:26.91 to win the West Regionals.
Soca earned his way into the finals at the West Regionals with a 12th place finish to earn the final spot to Eugene, clocking in at 28:58.67. Soca would follow up the historic performance with another one on Wednesday night, earning himself Second Team All-American with a 16th-place run.
The race, as expected, was hotly contested throughout the 25-lap event, with the lead pack not becoming apparent until the final lap. Soca kept himself with the lead pack through 7,600 meters but would fall into a smaller group of runners between 12 and 18. Soca would finish out the race in that group, eventually cementing himself in 16th place and snagging the final All-American nod.
Head Coach Adam Tribble reflected on Soca's incredible performance and what it means for the program and him moving forward.
"Soca ran very smart in a tough, nasty race. He has made fantastic progress this season and this is so big for the program to have its first (male) All-American. Hopefully, he (Soca) can find a way to squeeze into the Paris Olympics later this summer, but a phenomenal season for him."
The time of 28:58.67 is Soca's third fastest of his career and the second fastest this season for the sophomore, behind only his program-setting performance at the Stanford Invite back in April (28:14.96). Soca finishes this season with All-American honors in the Outdoor season, a silver medal in the 1.5K at the Western Athletic Conference Championships, and two regional-qualifying event times.
NEXT: The Lancers will continue its Nationals run with the 3000M Women's Steeplechase as Greta Karinauskiate will compete in the semifinals on Thursday afternoon in hopes of making it to the finals on Saturday.
DETAILS
EVENT: Women's 3000M Steeplechase Semifinals
TIME: 6:02 PM PT
WATCH: ESPN2
LIVE RESULTS: HERE
WHAT'S AT STAKE: Karinauskiate needs to finish in the top 5 in her heat or earn one of the next two fastest times to qualify for Saturday's Finals.
Players Mentioned
