As expected the Concordia women took advantage of the larger regional field and ran away from Azusa Pacific, which narrowly edged the Eagles at the GSAC meet. Concordia won the regional championship by a hefty 27 points over Azusa Pacific, 57-84.
Azusa Pacific senior Brianna Carstensen captured her third straight regional individual championship by clocking an impressive 17:28, her best 5K time ever in 7 races on the Woodward course. Sophomore Whitney Jacobsmeyer was fourth with a season-best 18:11 while senior Marissa Reeber was 12th (18:45) and freshman Olivia Richart was 14th (18:49).
The Cougars were so strong up front that they were the only team to put 4 runners in the top 14. Concordia, however, put all 5 of its scoring runners in the top 17. Azusa Pacific, on the other hand, was still without its projected fifth runner Janae Chapin, who has missed the past 3 meets with an ankle injury. In her stead, the Cougars have gone with an assortment of runners, and this time it was freshman Kelsey Carmichael, who proved to be the fifth scorer by finishing 54th out of 102 runners with a 20:32.
The NAIA’s No. 4-ranked Azusa Pacific men were upset by Concordia, which won its first-ever regional title by a 67-70 score over Azusa Pacific. The Cougars beat Concordia by 22 points at the GSAC meet, but this time the Eagles put 5 runners in the top 19 at the regional meet to edge Azusa Pacific.
Junior Danny Reid led the Cougar contingent by finishing eighth with a 25:38. Fellow junior Kevin Lindsey followed closely behind with a 25:43 to finish tenth out of the 94-runner field. Senior Tim Gachago and sophomore Peter Sherman went 15th and 16th, respectively, with 25:55 and 25:56. Freshman Caleb Lynch rounded out the Cougars’ top 5 by coming in 21st (26:12).
Despite the dual second-place finishes, both the men’s and women’s teams still advance to the NAIA Championship Meet in Louisville, Ky., Nov. 20, by way of at-large berths.
