PLNC’s Keter Claims Second Straight Title

Robert Keter became only the second male to ever win consecutive Golden State Athletic Conference titles Saturday as he led the Point Loma Nazarene men’s cross-country team to its fifth consecutive title.

Keter joins former PLNC runner Goshu Tadese, from Crawford, who won the 1988-89 titles. Keter, a junior, clocked 26 minutes 5 seconds on the 5-mile Morley Field course. He was joined in the top five by Point Loma High alumnus Scott Lardner (third, 26:22) and Hilltop’s Bryan Wallbank (fourth, 26:24). The Crusaders had five runners in the top 11. Tadese, who left PLNC and now runs for Fresno-Pacific, finished ninth (27:04). Tadese and Keter ran neck and neck for the first 2 1/2 miles before Keter put some distance between himself and the rest of the pack, winning by 11 seconds.

Lupe Ambriz became the first female from PLNC to win a GSAC title, clocking 19:35 over 3.1 miles. PLNC finshed third, one point behind Azusa Pacific and 20 behind Westmont College.

PLNC competes in three weeks in the NAIA District 3 Championships in Fresno.

University of San Diego’s cross-country teams tuned up for their West Coast Conference championship meet in two weeks by winning the USD Invitational at Morley Field. Dean Cortez’s second-place finish in 16:29 led the Torero men, who had 37 points to the second place Jamul Toads’ score of 51. Jennifer McCann’s second place in 20:51 led the USD women, who had 32 points to Biola’s 34.

MEN’S SOCCER

Westmont College scored a 1-0 GSAC victory over PLNC

Benny Bayrunassisted at 28 minutes for Westmont.

PLNC 3-6-1, 0-4-1 in GSAC. Westmont 11-4-1, 5-0-1, and is ranked No. 7 nationally in NAIA.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Sophomore midfielder Molly Sullivan scored her first collegiate goal to lead USD to to a 1-0 victory over visiting Westmont College in a nonconference game. Sullivan scored off assists from forward Corrie Bergeron and midfielder Mindy Campbell with 7:45 remaining. Freshman goalie Danielle Lopez saved three shots for USD (5-8).

TENNIS

Fifth-seeded Jim Black of Oceanside advanced to the U.S. Open Wheelchair Championships open division finals with a 6-7, 6-0, 6-2 victory over third-seeded Brad Parks of San Clemente at the Racquet Club of Irvine. Black meets Steven Welch of Bedford, Tex., in today’s finals. Top-seeded Rick Draney of Oceanside advanced to the finals of Quad singles with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Kevin Whalen of Birmingham, Ala.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

The U.S. national team upset the Olympic champion Cuban national team, 12-15, 15-1, 15-11, 15-13 during the second day of the Hong Kong Cup.

“This is one of the greatest wins in the history of U.S. volleyball,” Coach Terry Liskevych said. Cuba defeated the U.S. in the Olympics, 3-2.

The Americans (1-1) fielded a lineup that included only one Olympic starter, setter Lori Endicott. The Cubans played their Olympic lineup. Daiva Tomkus had 20 kills and Tammy Liley had 19 kills. Newcomer Kristin Klein, who joined the program in Sept., had a career-best 15 kills.

USD (13-8, 4-2) scored a 15-10, 13-15, 11-15, 15-2, 15-10 West Coast Conference victory over Gonzaga (8-11, 3-4) behind Jennifer Wrightson’s 20 kills. Jennifer Loftus had 11 kills and Nikki Wallace had 10.

Sixth-ranked Westmont (NAIA) avenged its only Golden State Athletic Conference loss by beating visiting Point Loma Nazarene, 15-13, 16-14, 15-12. Roberta Smith led 10th-ranked PLNC (11-6, 5-3) with 18 kills. Westmont improved to 22-3, 7-1.

Gracie Schutt’s 21 kills led visiting San Diego State over Utah, 15-6, 15-11, 9-15, 15-8, in a Western Athletic Conference match. Jennifer Miller added 18 kills and Suzanne Turcott had 12 kills for the Aztecs (SDSU 16-5, 2-3).