California Baptist University
Bryan Clay Invite
Soca Runs 7th Fastest 5K in NCAA History in Impressive Night for the Lancers
4/18/2025 12:03:00 AM | Cross Country & Track
AZUSA, CA--- The California Baptist University had a record-setting night two of the Bryan Clay Invitational with plenty of personal bests and program top ten times to go around.
The day began with a pair of open 5K's before shifting over to the 800s in the afternoon sessions. In the 800s, Petra Sara Kiss would clock in at 2:14.40 to finish in the top half of the deep field. In the evening sessions, the Lancers would compete in several heats of 5K's in both the invite and open sections. Ceyda Pinar would kick off the 5K's with a personal best time of 16:47.69 to finish 16th in her race. The time was ten seconds faster than her previous best time that she set at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic and got CBU off to a great start. Finn Anspach made his Lancer debut in the open 5K along with teammate Victor Rosas, who would both earn personal bests. Anspach would place 6th with a time of 14:02.57, while Rosas came in right behind him at 14:03.97.
Ernesto Ruiz would compete in his second event of the Invitational after running in the Men's Steeplechase the previous day. Ruiz would make his 5K debut and come away with a time of 14:06.78. Also making their 5K debut would be Laura Acuna, who would also come away with a strong performance with a time of 16:38.14. The Invite sections of the 5K would be the strongest for the Lancers as the team's strongest runners were set to take to the track.
Leading off for CBU was Valentin Soca in the fastest heat of the 5K. Soca would be in a strong field led by Habtom Samuel and Ishmael Kipkurui, who ran with Soca at The TEN just a few weeks ago. The field would include several All-Americans and a handful of professional runners representing Nike and other elite programs. Soca was impressive as usual, with an incredible time of 13:13.10, which would have been the stadium and invite record if not for the heroics of Samuel and Kipkurui, who had the fastest and third fastest time in collegiate history. Soca's time is the seventh fastest in NCAA history in the 5K and bested his previous personal best by nearly 17 seconds. Soca set the 10K record at The Ten a few weeks ago and now has the program records in the 1500, 5K, and 10K for the Lancers.
Following Soca was Ava Dyck in the Women's 5K Invite. Dyck also etched her name into the program record books with a gutsy run of 16:01.51. The time was a personal best for the freshman, marking the third time this season she has reset her own record. The time is also the fifth fastest in program history and the fastest time by a freshman in women's program history. The event would wrap with Daniel Abdala and Pedro Marin coming in the second fastest heat of the Men's 5K Invite. The two runners have been solid for the Lancers all season, and tonight was no exception. Abdala paced the two runners with an 8th-place finish at 13:37.25, while Marin came in 13th place with a time of 13:40.63. Both times were PRs for the runners and put them at third and fourth, respectively, in the program leaderboards.
NEXT: CBU will continue on into the final day of the Bryan Clay Invitational, with 1500s on the docket in multiple heats for the Lancers.
Players Mentioned
