Two Point Loma Nazarene Runners Qualify

Two Point Loma Nazarene College cross-country runners, Cam Matson and Denis Kiley, qualified for the NAIA national meet at the District III championships Saturday at UC Santa Barbara.

Matson, the defending District III champion, finished second with a time of 25 minutes 29 seconds over the eight-kilometer course. Kiley finished sixth in 26:11.5. The first-place team and top seven runners advance to the national championships.

Jeffe Llanez of Fresno Pacific won the individual title with a time of 25:00. Jim Mattson (25:43.5) of Westmont was third.

Westmont won the men’s title with 45 points, and Point Loma Nazarene was second with 52. Point Loma Nazarene has finished either first or second in the District III championships each of the last 10 years, including six team titles.

Point Loma Nazarene finished a distant second in the women’s five-kilometer race with 76 points. Westmont, which was led by a first-place finish from Michelle Lubinsky (18:45.7), had 36 points. Freshman Eva Lindbald finished eighth to lead Point Loma Nazarene.

In the UC San Diego Invitational, UCSD’s Denise McFayden and Sabrina Jensen finished first and second, respectively, but the Tritons still were second to the College of Notre Dame in the women’s team standings.

Notre Dame won the women’s title with 27 points, and UCSD was second with 28. Notre Dame also won the men’s title with 28 points. UCSD finished second with 30.

McFayden won the women’s 5,000-meter race in 18:47.

Notre Dame’s Jesus Gutierrez won the five-mile race in 26:21. UCSD’s Merrell Hora was second in 26:31.