Concordia Women Make Strong Effort

The Concordia women’s cross-country team had its strongest showing at last Saturday’s Golden State Athletic Conference Championships. But the third-place finish wasn’t enough to qualify the Eagles for the NAIA Championships, Nov. 15 in Kenosha, Wis.

Still, the Eagles finished the season ranked 21st in the nation, best in school history, and freshmen Tricia Mattson and Rachel Lafady qualified for the NAIA meet as individuals.

Mattson finished third (18 minutes 51 seconds) and Lafady fourth (18:53) on the 5,000-meter Newport Beach Back Bay course.

Before this season, Genevieve Graff, who won the conference title in 1989 and ’93 and was an All-American selection both years, was the only Concordia runner to qualify for the NAIA meet.

Southern California College junior Monica Landa, who finished eighth in 19:05, will join Mattson and Lafady at the NAIA meet. Mattson and Lafady earned first-team all-conference honors and Landa and Concordia’s Christy Ide were second-team selections.

SCC sophomore Matt Wheeler finished sixth in the men’s race, completing the 8,000-meter course in 27:09, to also qualify for the NAIA meet and earn first-team all-conference honors. SCC’s Steve Lalim and Concordia’s Robert Seaman earned second-team honors.

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Playoff Time: Pacific Christian (14-5) will play Christian Heritage (7-7-1) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Cal State Fullerton in a first-round game in the West Regional of the National Christian College Athletic Assn. men’s soccer playoffs.

If the Royals win, they would advance to the second round Nov. 15. Last season, Pacific Christian advanced to the final before losing to Western Baptist (Ore.), 6-2.

Although the SCC women’s soccer team lost its final three games, the Vanguards (13-7) still earned an at-large berth for the NAIA playoffs. SCC, which had won six consecutive games before its final three losses, will play at top-seeded Westmont at 2 p.m. in the first round of the Far West Regional, Nov. 14.

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All-Conference: Among those earning All-Golden State Athletic Conference men’s soccer honors were SCC senior Matt Clemente, junior Martin Lippens and freshman Josh McLeish. Also selected were Point Loma Nazarene juniors Eric Pfeiffer and goalie Mark Keller, both from Mission Viejo.