Soca Named WAC Athlete of the Week after Historic Performance at The TEN
4/2/2025 1:00:00 PM | Cross Country & Track
ARLINGTON, TX--- In his first official race of the season, Valentin Soca of California Baptist University track made history and was subsequently named the Western Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week.
Soca represented California Baptist University track on Saturday night at JSerra High School as he competed in "The World's Fastest 10K" in The TEN.
Soca was up against one of the deepest fields in the world that featured numerous Olympic runners, professional runners, and collegiate All-Americans. Among them was Graham Blanks, the 2x Cross-Country Champion who runs professionally for New Balance, and Habtom Samuel, the 10K runner-up from last season who currently runs for New Mexico. Samuel's teammate Ishmael Kipkurui would be the race champion and set the NCAA record time at 26:50.21.
Soca shattered the program record in the event by nearly 40 seconds, which he set at the Stanford Invitational last season with a time of 27:37.65. Soca finished 17th in the race of the 22 runners that finished, placing ahead of several star runners. The time is the 15th fastest time in NCAA history and the fifth fastest time in the NCAA this season, finishing behind the four collegiate runners in the field at The TEN. The race was Soca's first official event in a CBU uniform this Outdoor Season, setting him up for a historic year after earning All-American accolades in both last outdoor season and cross-country this season.
Soca and the Lancers will be back in action this weekend as they head to Northern California to compete in the Mike Fanelli Track Classic and the Stanford Invite.
Players Mentioned
