The Cougar men’s and women’s team, both ranked among the NAIA Top 5 in their respective national polls, put together a collective show that was quite impressive, not just for small colleges but for major ones as well.
Led by its triumvirate of All-Americans Jacky Kipwambok and Jaime Canterbury and newcomer Renee Graham, the Cougar women finished third with 183 points, trailing only NCAA Division I Stanford University (43 points) and UC Davis (122). Along the way, the Cougars beat University of California (191), UCLA (202) and NCAA Division II nationally-ranked Chico State (227) and Seattle Pacific University (447).
Individually, Kipwambok finished second with a 20:50 while running her lone 6K of the season (standard distance for meets hosted by NCAA Division I schools). UC Irvine senior Laura Olvera edged Kipwambok by 8 seconds to win the meet’s individual title with a 20:42.
Graham continues to impress in her first season at Azusa Pacific. The senior transfer from Lamar University managed a crowd of competitors to finish ninth with a 21:27.
“Jacky ran just a great, great race,” said Cougar distance coach Preston Grey. “Renee fought through pack at the end to finish strong and help the team score.”
Reigning NAIA champion Jaime Canterbury, who is still rounding into shape after being slowed by a flu 3 weeks ago, finished 19th with a 22:00. Azusa Pacific, which is ranked No. 2 in the NAIA, joined Stanford as the only schools to place 3 runners in among the top 19 finishers, validating Azusa Pacific’s argument to have the best threesome in the NAIA this year.
Freshmen Lauren Jimison was 71st with a 23:05, and senior Becca Reyes was just 8 seconds behind with a 23:13 which placed her 82nd out of the 278 runners who finished the race.
The Cougar men, who are currently ranked No. 6 in the NAIA, finished sixth at the Stanford Invitational with 219 points, trailing only Stanford (39 points), University of California (87), University of Arkansas (103), Chico State University (122), and UC Santa Barbara (142). Along the way, the Cougars beat UC Irvine (249), Long Beach State (287), Baylor (357) and Fresno State (427).
Reigning NAIA champion Aron Rono ran quite well with a 23:53 but his 4-meet winning streak came to an end by the last runner to beat him, Chico State’s Scotty Bauhs, who clocked a 23:45 to edge Rono for the second straight year at the Sanford Invitational. Rono led much of the 8K race but Bauhs caught him late and held on for the victory.
Junior Forrest Lewton ran a near-personal-best 25:38 to finish 34th, and NAIA All-American Abednego Magut showed that his conditioning is getting better with a season-best 25:44, a 67-second improvement from his 8K race of 2 weeks ago.
“The men ran a terrific team race,” added Grey. “Nobody beat us that should have beat us. It was very encouraging performance by the whole team.”
Azusa Pacific takes 2 weeks off and returns to the races at the Vanguard Invitational in Orange Country Saturday, Oct. 11.
