FULLERTON, Calif. --- It was a banner day for Biola Cross Country as both teams placed on the podium at the PacWest Conference Championships, with Biola's men's team repeating as conference champs.
The women's team finished tied for second, paced by All-PacWest finishes from Mackenna Mason, Mandy Reyes and Grace Catena. The men were able to secure the repeat with a dominant effort from Gabe Plendcio, who won back-to-back individual championships, and all seven scorers earning All-PacWest.
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Plendcio, Brady DeHaven and Ryan Thompson took first, second and third individually to anchor a Biola effort that was clearly a class above right from the start.
"It was the last time running an 8k here at conference and here at home," said Plendcio. "It's a blessing for sure. The plan was for us to run aggressive and be assertive. I am so proud of all of these guys."
Plendcio's winning time of 25:09.71 was 11 seconds faster than his second and third place teammates. He had a huge lead for the entire race, getting as large as 25 to 30 seconds at some splits.
"On the men's side, the guys ran like champions and really put themselves out there," said Head Coach
Sean Henning. "They didn't hold back at all which is what we needed out of the day. Our guys raced together well for most of the race. We absolutely blew the race open early on and made sure it was a legitimate pace."
He maintained the large gap even with having to take a pit stop early on in the 8k. He had a woodchip get lodged in his shoe and press into his foot and took the advice of assistant coach Kevin Horchler to stop running, take it out and then press on. Incredible effort.
As mentioned above all seven scorers for Biola earned All-PacWest. DeHaven (25:21.25), Thompson (25:21.93) and Angel Escobar (5th - 25:34.73) joined Plendcio on the All-PacWest first team. Ryan St. Pierre (10th - 25:53.47) and Gio Orellana (11th - 25:54.07) took home second team honors and Jared Donnel (18th - 26:27.08) rounded out the group on the third team.
The women's race was much more up for grabs. Biola had its chances throughout and should be pleased with its great effort to tie for second place. The Eagles sat alone in second for most of the race, but Academy of Art made a hard charge late to catch up.
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Mason's third-place finish is three spots higher than she managed in 2018 and she also dropped some time with her mark of 21:47.89. She was right in the mix with the individual champion Hasna Kaarour of ART U for a little over 5,000 of the 6,000 kilometers, ultimately finishing about 20 seconds back.
"Mackenna ran a very good race and I was proud of her for challenging the other girls and trying to win," said Henning. "Mandy also moved up very well throughout the race which is what we needed her to do."
Reyes, who seems to love running at the conference meets, was the Eagles' no. 2 finisher with a 22:36.97 and 16th-place finish. She and Grace Catena (21st - 22:48.20) both earned All-PacWest third team honors.
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The Eagles also took spots 22, 23 and 24 in the race to have three others miss out narrowly on all-conference nods. Kaili Waller led that group with a 22:50.92. She was followed by Clara Haynes (22:53.11) and Siena Stacy (22:53.70).
Kaitlyn Natividad was the seventh Eagle across the line, helping all of Biola's counters come inside of the top-31. She carded a 23:10 flat.
"We had a good trio of Clara, Kaili, and Siena that worked together well for most of the race which was good to see," said Henning. "I think we can all agree we still have more left in the tank and have yet to run our best team day. We are optimistic that we can put it all together in two weeks and contend for a top-10 finish at regionals."
Fresno Pacific won the team title with five runners inside of the top-19, equating to 62 points. The Eagles' men's team had a minuscule 21 points. The next-closest competition was runners-up Notre Dame de Namur with 75.
Next up for this group is the first-ever NCAA Division II postseason competition in Biola history. Both teams will compete at the NCAA Division II West Region finals in Monmouth, Oregon on Nov. 9.
"I am excited to continue to work with these guys over the next couple weeks and put together our best race of the year at regionals," said Henning. "I am proud of them no matter what they do, they have shown a lot of Godly character throughout the season."
