RESULTS | Video Highlights
 
Sacramento, Calif. – Senior Koby Pederson ran the race of a lifetime as he qualified for the NCAA Championships next Saturday, Nov. 17 in Madison, Wis. Pederson finished third in a field that included several All-Americans and a National Champion.
 
"It means everything to me," Pederson said. "It just shows the sky is the limit for anyone in our program and that if you surround yourself with good people, that good things will happen. It's crazy to think that I just started running my junior year of high school where I wasn't close to being heavily recruited and now I have the opportunity to race the nation's best at the collegiate level."
 
Pederson traversed the 10K course in 29:44.1 which is a new school record eclipsing Weston Strum's old mark by 46 seconds. Pederson, who was outside the top-50 in the first mile, methodically moved his way into position going into the last mile where he closed in a 4:26 to break into the top-3.
 
"Lots of hard work has gone into my four years and it's not an individual journey," Pederson continued. "This is the accumulation of the support of friends, coaches, and teammates. It's just surreal and I don't think I'll comprehend it until the gun goes off at nationals."
 
Pederson led the Lions to a 13th-place team finish, which ties their highest finish at the West Regional in both 2009 and last year. The field of 29 teams included eight teams ranked in the top-30 nationally and five of those eight were ranked in the top-11. The men started off in 22nd after the first mile but moved themselves into 20th half-way through the race and 15th with a mile left. The Lions were able to move up two more spots to 13th by one point.
 
Senior Jack Polerecky was the second Lion to cross the line in 93rd place finishing with a time of 31:26.5. Despite taking a fall during the race, Polerecky was able pick himself up for a top-100 finish. Polerecky ends his illustrious LMU-career as the 10,000-meter school record holder on the track and an NCAA track & field qualifier.
 
Nine spots behind Polerecky in 103rd place, senior Branden Estrada ran a 10K career best of 31:42.0. Estrada also breaks into the top-20 on the LMU all-time list sharing the 17th spot with 2013 graduate John Pickhaver.
 
Rounding out the scoring five for the Lions, sophomore Simeon Paul and senior Solomon Demeku-Ousman finished 109th and 114th, respectively. Paul finished with a career best time of 31:47.3, while Demeku-Ousman was four seconds behind Paul in 31:51.9.
 
Freshman Zach Arias was 130th and ran 32:14.1, which is the seventh fastest freshman time in the 10K in LMU history ahead of the aforementioned Paul and Pederson. Finally, senior Alex Sasser crossed the line in 32:35.0 and 144th place.
 
On the women's side, the Lions were 17th out of 36 teams in the race. Like the men, the women started well behind the pack in 29th after the first mile, but moved up to 19th with a little more than a mile left.
 
Senior Giselle Masedo, a junior college transfer, ended her cross country career with a personal best of 21:17.3 for the 6K course. She was the highest finisher for the Lions in 72nd place. Masedo's time moves her into the top-20 on the LMU all-time list in 19th position.
 
Senior Maddi Vorgitch was 15 spots behind Masedo in 87th. Vorgitch ends her career as the 8th-fastest Lion ever in the 6K in cross country as well as 5th in the 10K and 7th in the 5K on the track. She was also a NCAA track & field qualifier in the 10K last track season.
 
Junior Kyla Danforth was just outside the top-100 in 101st place running a time of 21:39.3. Danforth finishes her junior season in the top-20 on the All-Time LMU list with a time of 21:19.9 at the Bronco Invitational.
 
Rounding out the scoring five, junior Hannah Wohlenberg and freshman Grace Catena were 127th and 144th, respectively. Wohlenberg ran 21:58.6 while Catena ran 22:10.4. Both Wohlenberg and Catena improved on their performance on the same course back in late September.
 
The sixth Lion in was freshman Perri Bockrath, crossing the finish line in 22:36.0. Seventh for the Lions was freshman Dani Rowlinson in 23:17.8. Rowlinson ran a career best for 6K and improved her time by 25 seconds from her previous performance on the same course.
 
"What a great day for our program," head coach Scott Guerrero said. "On the women's side Maddi has been a consistent No. 1 for us but then got sick earlier this week. That's just bad luck.  But then to see Giselle step up and have her best day in the last race of her cross country career was unbelievably inspiring."
 
"On the men's side, what Koby did was truly incredible," Guerrero went on. "He becomes the first-ever male from LMU to qualify for the national championship in cross country which means he has made history. He's chipped away at this for four years now and even in this his senior season he has continued to improve in every race. He wasn't even All-Conference two weeks ago and now not only is he All-Region but he was third in the West and a national qualifier. I couldn't be happier for him.  Five of the seven guys we ran today were seniors who collectively as a group equaled our best-ever finish in this race.  It warms my heart to send these guys out on such a high note."
 
Pederson will represent the Lions next Saturday, Nov. 17 at 9:45 a.m. PT at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Madison Wis. Pederson's advancement to the NCAA Championship marks the ninth time in the last 14 seasons that LMU will be represented at the "Big Dance" in Cross Country.