Eagles News
10.11.2008 - [Cross Country]
Photo By: Andy Templeton
COSTA MESA, CA --- Violet Mokaya's fifth-place time of 17:57 led the NAIA's No. 5-ranked Concordia women's cross country team, which finished third in a group of 11 squads at the 19th annual Vanguard Invitational.
The men also finished third, distancing themselves from just ahead of No. 13 Vanguard.
"I'm a proud man today, with both of our programs holding our own," head coach Martin Gonzalez said. "That's our tradition, to get both programs up to the top."
Mokaya turned in the fastest time for the women for the first time on the season, as Rocio Pelayo (18:03) and Aybuke Kizilarslan (18:16) finished seventh and ninth, respectivley.
The Eagle women finished behind No. 2 Azusa Pacific and No. 3 Cal State San Marcos, and edged No. 7 Biola thanks to the depth of finishes by Yanley Estrada (19th, 18:53), Cyntia Rios (33rd, 19:21) and Amy Lund (58th, 20:47).
The caliber of the meet was high today," Gonzalez said. "We got to see ourselves against APU for the first time. The team gave a gutsy performance and really went after it, and it was good to see us competing with a highly ranked team. I'm happy with where we're at in the season, maintaining our top-five rankings."
On the men's side, Tony Pulido posted a seventh-place time of 25:55 as the un-ranked Eagles finished just four points better than No. 13 Vanguard (113 to 117).
Guillermo Cazares finished 22nd with a time of 26:41, while Joseph Lopez (26:44) and Alaeeddine Khannouchi (26:48) finished 25th and 27th, respectively to help Concordia to a third-place finish.
"We committed ourselves that we needed to get back into the rankings by giving at least one team a challenge, and we did it by beating Vanguard to finish third out of four ranked teams," Gonzalez said. "That should help us to get back on the ranking list."
The trio of Joseph Pluff (28:11), Jarid Rollins (28:25) and Raymundo Vasquez (28:46) finished 54th, 55th and 58th, respectively, to round out the depth to out-run Vanguard.
"Joseph Pluff, Jarid Rollins and Raymundo Vasquez also had a job to do, and that was have a strong finish to pick up those points to close the gap," Gonzalez said. "Joseph hung in there like a champ, and that's what we need him to do as the fifth runner."
The Eagles next run at the Biola Invitational Oct. 25 starting at 8:30 a.m.
The men also finished third, distancing themselves from just ahead of No. 13 Vanguard.
"I'm a proud man today, with both of our programs holding our own," head coach Martin Gonzalez said. "That's our tradition, to get both programs up to the top."
Mokaya turned in the fastest time for the women for the first time on the season, as Rocio Pelayo (18:03) and Aybuke Kizilarslan (18:16) finished seventh and ninth, respectivley.
The Eagle women finished behind No. 2 Azusa Pacific and No. 3 Cal State San Marcos, and edged No. 7 Biola thanks to the depth of finishes by Yanley Estrada (19th, 18:53), Cyntia Rios (33rd, 19:21) and Amy Lund (58th, 20:47).
The caliber of the meet was high today," Gonzalez said. "We got to see ourselves against APU for the first time. The team gave a gutsy performance and really went after it, and it was good to see us competing with a highly ranked team. I'm happy with where we're at in the season, maintaining our top-five rankings."
On the men's side, Tony Pulido posted a seventh-place time of 25:55 as the un-ranked Eagles finished just four points better than No. 13 Vanguard (113 to 117).
Guillermo Cazares finished 22nd with a time of 26:41, while Joseph Lopez (26:44) and Alaeeddine Khannouchi (26:48) finished 25th and 27th, respectively to help Concordia to a third-place finish.
"We committed ourselves that we needed to get back into the rankings by giving at least one team a challenge, and we did it by beating Vanguard to finish third out of four ranked teams," Gonzalez said. "That should help us to get back on the ranking list."
The trio of Joseph Pluff (28:11), Jarid Rollins (28:25) and Raymundo Vasquez (28:46) finished 54th, 55th and 58th, respectively, to round out the depth to out-run Vanguard.
"Joseph Pluff, Jarid Rollins and Raymundo Vasquez also had a job to do, and that was have a strong finish to pick up those points to close the gap," Gonzalez said. "Joseph hung in there like a champ, and that's what we need him to do as the fifth runner."
The Eagles next run at the Biola Invitational Oct. 25 starting at 8:30 a.m.
