SANTA CLARITA, Calif. — Racing on the back end of a focused three-week training block, the Lions showed up ready and executed, clinching a first-place team finish at The Master's University Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, September 20 that saw 19 other teams competing.  
 
"This win felt like it was a long time coming," said Head Coach Chloe Curtis. 
 
The Lions and University of San Diego Toreros both finished with 78 points, but LMU took the victory on a tiebreaker, winning 4 of the 5 head-to-head matchups between their top five runners. "Coming into this race we had planned to be aggressive at the start and put ourselves in a position to win by the two-mile mark," said Curtis.   
 
Senior Hayden Washington (Valencia, CA) once again led the way, finishing fourth overall with a time of 22:00.8 on the hilly 6k course. The performance earned Washington West Coast Conference Runner of the Week honors. Junior Rylee Guinn (Brentwood, CA) followed closely in 22:22.3, placing ninth overall.  
 
"We knew we would have tough competition from USD and Hawaii, and that we'd need a few athletes to step up to make it happen," said Curtis. Stepping up for the Lions was junior and newly minted co-captain Tessa Kline (Springfield, MA), who surged in the final kilometer to pass multiple USD runners, crossing the line in 22:37.1 for a 13th place finish.  
 
The final two scorers—Ava Boyd (Longmont, CO) and Alex Zanon (Campbell, CA)—ran 22:43.0 and 23:31.2, respectively, helping seal the team's average time of 22:38 and a winning spread of just 1:31 from runners 1-5.  
 
The Lions packed well with all seven athletes inside the top 45 out of 210 finishers, highlighting the team's growing depth. "We have seen our returners make big strides in their fitness and competitiveness over the past year, and the added depth and energy that our five newcomers bring has been huge," said Curtis. "I can't wait to see what more we can accomplish together." Rounding out the top seven for the champions of The Master's Invite was freshman Collette Heil (Nahant, MA) in a time of 23:37.6 and senior Samantha Duwe (Oak Park, IL) who continued her comeback tour in a time of 23:40.5.  
 
Not far behind was freshman Kailey O'Brien (Elkhorn, NE) in a time of 23:46.9, sophomore Anna Bridges (Denver, CO) in a time of 23:55.3, and junior Emma Ronan (Northbridge, MA) who made her season debut after a return from injury in a time of 24:05. Freshman Kelsey Calhoun (Colorado Springs, CO) and Ayden Brown (Lafayette, LA) covered the course in 24:44.2 and 25:58.3 respectively.  
 
"This was truly a full team effort – all 12 Lions gave everything they had to secure the win," Curtis said. The Lions will get their chance to do just that at the Charles Bowles Invitational in Salem, Oregon on Saturday, October 4.