Led by Jacky Kipwambok and Jaime Canterbury, Azusa Pacific won the GSAC women’s championship meet at Fairview Park, registering a team low 57 points to collect its fifth title in the past 7 years but its first since 2004. Biola University finished second with 66 points, and while Point Loma Nazarene University also had 66, it finished third based on the placing of each team’s sixth runner.
Kipwambok, the Kenyan native, captured the GSAC individual title with a career-best time of 17:47, the third fastest 5K in Azusa Pacific history, and become the first freshman since Azusa Pacific’s Latesha Jones in 2000 to win the conference crown.
“Jacky took the lead from the gun and no one touched her,” said Azusa Pacific coach Preston Grey. “She just continues to get better and more fit each week. She was impressive today.”
Kipwambok’s winning time was nearly 40 seconds better than the winning GSAC time on this same course back in 2004 when Azusa Pacific All-American Brianna Carstensen won the conference crown with an 18:26.
Canterbury was second with a 17:55, holding off Biola’s Kristin Schmidt over the final 800 meters to make Azusa Pacific the first school to go 1-2 in the individual race since Cougars Carstensen and Christine Krause did so in leading Azusa Pacific to the 2003 GSAC championship.
“Jaime’s strength proved to be the difference,” said Grey. “She and Schmidt were in a battle most of the race but Jaime was able to pull away.”
Junior Becca Reyes and senior Olivia Richert picked up All-GSAC honors by finishing ninth and 13th, respectively. Reyes clocked an 18:42, and Richert posted an 18:51.
“Those were some great No. 3 and 4 performances by Becca and Olivia,” said Grey. “We were sitting in great shape at that point.”
Indeed, the Cougars were up by a comfortable 17 points over Point Loma after both team’s top 4 runners crossed the finish line, but there was still some remaining drama. As the No. 5 runners for both Biola and Point Loma finished out their team scores, Azusa Pacific labored behind. Freshman Kayla Carstensen was strong over the first 2 miles but began to fade from the view of the final runners of Biola and Point Loma. However, Stephanie Godfrey rallied and secured the title for the Cougars by finishing 34th with a 19:52.
Azusa Pacific registered an outstanding team time of 18:37, roughly 13 seconds better than Biola and Point Loma Nazarene, and a stunning near minute better than what the Cougars ran on this same course in capturing the 2004 GSAC crown.
Azusa Pacific entered the 2007 GSAC championships with an eye on history, hoping to become the first school ever to sweep all 4 championships – the men’s and women’s team titles along with the men’s and women’s individual crowns. They came within an eyelash. More accurately, a point within history.
Concordia University won the closest title race in conference history, edging Azusa Pacific, 77 to 78, to take its third straight conference championship.
Cougar junior Aron Rono collected the third jewel of Azusa Pacific’s hopeful 4-jewel crown by taking the men’s individual title in impressive fashion. Rono ran away from the field and in the process shattered both the course record and conference records, clocking an outstanding 24:11. His nearest competitor was Biola’s All-American Brian Ball, who finished second with a 25:02.
“You kind of run out of superlatives when talking about Aron,” said Grey. “He is in a class by himself, and that proved evident again today.”
The rest of the Cougar contingent ran well and together, but it wasn’t enough to overtake Concordia.
“Concordia is a great team,” said Grey. “You have to give them credit. They are strong and ran a great race. I thought our guys also competed very well, and in the end it came down to a point. I think that says it all about the competition.”
Sophomore John Pfeil finished 16th overall with a 26:14 while Caleb Lynch (26:21), Travis Fernandes (26:22) and Rocky Richardson (26:26) followed in 19th, 20th, and 22nd. Forrest Lewton was just off the pace at 26th with a 26:37.
“There’s a sense of disappointment because we didn’t quite reach the goal of 4 championships,” said Grey, “but really we have to be pleased with the performance. We ran well. Our guys were in a tight pack and did everything I could have asked of them.”
With this year’s women’s crown, Azusa Pacific has now won 13 cross country championships between the men’s and women’s programs, matching Westmont’s 13 crowns as the most in GSAC history. The Cougars take 2 weeks off and open up the postseason competition Nov. 3 when they compete in the NAIA Region II Championship Meet at Woodward Park in Fresno, Calif. First race is set for 9 a.m.
