Men's Meet Results | Women's Meet Results
The Loyola Marymount University Lions men's and women's cross country teams hosted the West Coast Conference Championships for the first time in nearly forty years and finished sixth and seventh respectively at Woodley Lakes Golf Course in Van Nuys, California on Friday. The men scored 181 points while the women tallied 165 points in a championship that featured four nationally ranked teams as well as two other regionally ranked opponents.
"It was a pleasure to host one of the top conference meets in the country and I am grateful for the hard work put in by LMU Athletics, West Coast Conference staff and our awesome volunteers," said Head Coach Scott Guerrero.
"We placed 6th on the men's side, one point ahead of Pepperdine, who were ranked No. 14 in the West Region. We were only four points behind USF, so that stings. Simeon Paul and Zach Arias really rose to the occasion for us, and our 1-5 gap was only 28 seconds. I'm proud of how our guys battled and luckily, we have another shot at San Diego and Santa Clara at the Regional Meet in two weeks."
"On the women's side, the highlight was Kyla's All-Conference performance. Kyla was determined to put herself in the top 15 and she fought for it every step of the way. It was another close team battle, with only nine points separating 5th to 7th place. Dani Rowlinson, who has been our 5th scorer most of this season, stepped up and ran a career best time as our number two. I'm proud of our women's team, but I know they are not satisfied. We will be looking for revenge on the Regionals course in two weeks."
The top finisher for the men was Simeon Paul who ran a 25:18 for the 8k course. He finished 38th overall in the Championship and was quickly followed by Zach Arias who crossed the line at 25:21, good for 40th overall. Joseph Garcia was the next Lion to cross the line at 25:31, which put him at 45th overall and Max Smith who gutted out a top-50 finish with a time of 25:40 putting him at 48th. Roc Johnson and Roberto Ruelas had strong finishes to the race coming in at 50th and 57th place. The final three lions were Jacob Villegas, Ethan Frisone and Cooper McCarthy who placed 67th, 73rd and 74th respectively.
The women's team was paced by Kyla Danforth who posted a time of 21:19. The race boasted many Nationally ranked individuals, and Danforth proved that she can run with the best of the best. Danforth's time put her in 15th place overall and with that garnered WCC All-Second Team honors. Dani Rowlinson and Hannah Wohlenberg were the next two LMU runners to cross the finish line at times of 22:02 and 22:04, putting them at 36th and 37th respectively. Ann Kelly crossed the line at 22:22, marking a 48th place finish while rounding out the top-50 finishers was Gabriela Hernandez who posted at time of 22:25 for 50th overall. Avery Doan, running in her first WCC Championships, posted a time of 22:51 while Rosalie Cruz was the final Lion to cross the finish line with a time of 23:27.
The Lions next test on the course will come in two weeks at the NCAA Division I West Regionals on Friday, Nov. 15 in Colfax, Washington. LMU will look to improve on their 13th and 17th place finishes at the West Regionals from a year ago.
