By Beth Renkoski

11/07/09

Three Lions Make All-GSAC at GSAC Championships

Megan Williams

Christian de Glymes

Matt Johnson

Fresno, Calif – Woodward Park – The Vanguard Lions had been preparing for this meet all season. With conference championships and national berths on the line today, all eyes were focused on the 2009 GSAC Championship Meets held at Woodward Park in Fresno. As the fifth-highest ranked team in the GSAC, VU’s women’s team upheld their rank with a fifth place finish, while the VU men, one of four teams receiving votes and two ranked teams in the meet, came in fourth overall. The Lions had three athletes earn All-GSAC honors by finishing in the top 14 of their respective races, including sophomore Megan Williams, junior Christian de Glymes, and sophomore Matt Johnson.

Williams led the Vanguard women with a time of 18:33. Although her time was slightly slower than last year’s mark, she finished two places higher (14th), grabbing the final place on the women’s All-GSAC team. Freshman Araceli Zainos was 28 seconds behind Williams (19:01), coming in 23rd among the 91 competitors in the race. Sophomore Chelsea Van Cott ran another consistent pace for the Lions, finishing only four seconds behind Zainos (19:05) and two places back (25th). Van Cott has varied no more than 10 seconds in all four of her 5k races this season. Freshman Jazmine Reyes moved up to fourth in the Lions order for the first time this season. Posting a time (19:28) only two seconds off her PR, Reyes was the 31st runner to cross the finish line. Sophomore Emily Canales, who has bettered her 2008 PR in every 5k race this season, was VU’s final scoring runner with a time of 19:29, finishing 32nd, just one second behind Reyes. Coming in sixth for the Lions, freshman Lauren Minnick was clocked at 20:41 in 53rd place.

The 22nd-ranked Lions posted a team time of 1:35 with an average time of 19:08 as the fifth place team in the nine-team women’s 5k. With four higher-ranked teams (APU, BU, PLNU, CUI) finishing ahead of Vanguard, the Lions probably will not move up in next week’s rankings. The leaves VU waiting to see if the Lions will qualify for an at-large team berth to the NAIA Championships in Vancouver, Washington on November 21st.

In the men’s 8k, No. 24-ranked Westmont ran away with a 20-point victory over No. 22-ranked California Baptist. Of the four other teams receiving votes, Azusa Pacific and the Lions battled it out for third place, with APU winning by a 97-105 point margin. Coming in with less votes than VU, APU placed three runners in the top eight, including the GSAC Champion, before VU’s first runner (Christian de Glymes) would make his first GSAC top-ten appearance. As a team, the Lions had a time of 2:13.18 and an average 8k time of 26:40.

De Glymes’ time of 26:08 was seven seconds slower than his time a year ago, but he nonetheless collected his second All-GSAC award in a row by finishing ninth, four places higher than 2008. Only ten seconds behind de Glymes, Johnson also garnered his second All-GSAC laurel by checking in at 26:18 in 13th place, one spot higher than last year. Freshman Fernando Orozco, last week’s choice for VU Lion of the Week, finished third for the Lions for the first time in his career. Only 11 seconds off his PR from last week with a time of 26:43, he finished 23rd overall. Coming in 28th, senior Mike Hartanov made his final collegiate appearance on the Woodward Park course with a time of 27:00, just 11 seconds off his previous best time on the course. Freshman Chris Ponce made his Vanguard debut at the GSAC Championships by placing fifth for the Lions and 32nd overall among the field of 75 GSAC runners. He posted a new personal record of 27:09, 11 seconds better than his former PR he had set at the VU Invite one month ago, and was VU’s final scorer. Placing sixth and seventh respectively for Vanguard were sophomore Chad Smith, with his best time of the season and only three seconds off his PR (27:29), and junior Nick St. Andre (28:30), who finished 57th overall.

Waiting for official word from the NAIA, the Lions are hoping to at least have a few individual qualifiers for the NAIA Championships, if not even an at-large berth on the women’s side. The NAIA Championships are comprised of 32 teams (Conference Champions plus at-large berths) and a limited number of individual qualifiers.

Vanguard and team results are posted below or use the links below for complete meet results. Thanks for supporting and following the Vanguard Lions this season!

Next for VU Cross Country: 54th Men’s and 30th Women’s NAIA National Championships, November 21st at Fort Vancouver National Historical Site in Vancouver, Washington.

Complete race results can be found at: www.proracegroup.com

VU’s Women’s 5K Scoring	Name	Team Place 5th/9	Time	VU’s Men’s 8K Scoring	Name	Team Place (4th/9)	Time
1	Megan Williams	14/91 All-GSAC	18:33	1	Christian de Glymes	9/75 All-GSAC	26:08
2	Araceli Zainos	23/91	19:01	2	Matt Johnson	13/75 All-GSAC	26:18
3	Chelsea Van Cott	25/91	19:05	3	Fernando Orozco	23/75	26:43
4	Jazmine Reyes	31/91	19:28	4	Mike Hartanov	28/75	27:00
5	Emily Canales	32/91	19:29	5	Chris Ponce	32/75	27:09 PR
6	Lauren Minnick	53/91	20:41	6	Chad Smith	40/75	27:29
7	Olya Zamucen	DNR	NA	7	Nicholas St. Andre	57/75	28:30

2009 GSAC Championships Team Scoring Summary

 

 

Women’s 5K Scoring	Team (NAIA Rank)	Points		Men’s 8K Scoring	Team (NAIA Rank)	Points
1	Azusa Pacific (1)	32		1	Westmont (24)	64
2	Biola (4)	48		2	Cal Baptist (22)	84
3	Point Loma Nazarene (17)	91		3	Azusa Pacific (RV)	97
4	Concordia (8)	95		4	Vanguard (RV)	105
5	Vanguard (22)	125		5	The Master’s (RV)	124
6	Westmont (RV)	137		6	Concordia	137
7	California Baptist	191		7	Point Loma Nazarene	152
8	The Master’s	215		8	Fresno Pacific	185
9	Fresno Pacific	262		9	Biola (RV)	195