California Baptist University
NCAA West Region Prelims
CBU Sends Five to West Regionals with National Bids on the Line
5/27/2025 4:16:00 PM | Cross Country & Track
RIVERSIDE--- The California Baptist University track team will send five runners to the NCAA West Regionals this week in College Station, Texas, following a successful outdoor regular season.
The Lancers, who only participate in distance events, will compete at the West Regionals for the third consecutive season and will do so for the first time under the guidance of first-year Head Coach Sean Smith. Coach Smith earned numerous accolades in Cross-Country season, including Western Athletic Conference Men's Coach of the Year and Men's West Region Coach of the Year. Smith will be joined at West Regionals by Valentin Soca, Ernesto Ruiz, Daniel Abdala, Pedro Marin, and Ava Dyck as they look to punch multiple tickets to Nationals.
Soca will be the leader for the Lancers at regionals as he currently sits at #3 in the NCAA this season in the 5K after posting a time of 13:13.10 at the Bryan Clay Invitational. The time is the 7th fastest time in the history of the NCAA and obviously is the new program record for the Lancers. Soca will be participating at regionals for the third consecutive season, becoming the only Lancer to qualify every year they have been eligible. Soca was an All-American last year, placing 16th in the 10K at Nationals. Soca is on a torrent pace this season and will have a realistic shot at an Individual National Championship.
Joining Soca on the men's side will be Abdala, Marin, and Ruiz, who all submitted spectacular outdoor seasons. Abdala will join Soca in the 5K and will also take a crack at the 10K. Abdala posted times of 13:37.25 and 28:22.62 in those events this season and was a Second-Team All-WAC finisher in the 1500M. Marin will compete in the 10K with a personal best time of 28:25.04 that he set at the Stanford Invitational. The final entry on the men's side will be Ernesto Ruiz, who will compete in the Men's 3000M Steeplechase, becoming the first male Lancer to participate in the event at Regionals/Nationals in DI program history. Ruiz's personal best time of 8:49.45 was set at the Franson Last Chance Invite.
The lone entry on the women's side will be the freshman Ava Dyck, who put together one of the best freshman campaigns in program history. The Canadian native will compete for the Lancers in the 5K after winning the individual title at the WAC Championships two weeks ago. Her best time of the season came at the Bryan Clay Invitational, and she came a few seconds shy of also qualifying in the 10K.
MEET INFORMATION:
WHEN: 5/28-5/31
WHERE: College Station, TX
WATCH: ESPN+
EVENTS: Men's 5K- 5/28 at 7:10 PM PT
Men's Steeplechase- 5/30 at 3:40 PM PT
Men's 5K- 5/30 at 6:10 PM PT
Women's 5L- 5/31 at 6:10 PM PT
Players Mentioned
