Cal Baptist takes top five spots in men's race led by LePallec to produce perfect score of 15, but Utah Valley rallies to secure first women's championship since 2016; Rono earns individual crown for Abilene Christian in WAC finals debut

By Landon Negri for DyeStat

RIVERSIDE – On the way to an assumed coronation that would set the table for the future of the Western Athletic Conference, the Utah Valley University women’s cross country team alerted the college landscape to a different scenario Saturday morning.

Utah Valley stunned favored Cal Baptist, the meet host, winning the WAC women’s team championship in a 34-41 victory at the UC Riverside Ag-Ops course.

Cal Baptist’s men did win in impressive fashion, with a perfect score of 15, with Utah Valley placing second with 42 points.

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Junior Florian LePallec led the way for Cal Baptist and won the individual championship on the 8-kilometer course in 23 minutes, 18.5 seconds.

Abilene Christian sophomore Irene Rono won the 6-kilometer women's race in 19:44.2, as the Wildcats placed third with 62 points.

Saturday's performance not only marked a second consecutive men’s team title for Cal Baptist, but it also ended its season, as the Lancers’ move from Division 2 does not allow them to be NCAA Division 1 postseason eligible until next year.

Cal Baptist’s dominance in both genders is such, that many expect the program to continue that way, but a gutty performance Saturday by the Wolverines suggested otherwise. Utah Valley’s women won their first title since 2016 after finishing second each of the past four seasons.

“We've been working for this ever since I got in the program,” said junior Mazzie Melaney, who placed sixth in 20:29, “and this has been our biggest goal to get here. So it’s super exciting to have it all come together today.”

Freshman Caila Odekirk led the Wolverines, placing third in 20:12.5, with teammate and junior Everlyn Kemboi taking fourth in 20:18. Odekirk graduated Hurricane High in Utah a year early after capturing multiple 4A state titles to enroll at Utah Valley.

Their ability to get in front of CBU runners – except for runner-up Greta Karinauskaite, who ran 19:50.9 – was huge in the Wolverines staying ahead of the Lancers in a team clash that was a back-and-forth battle throughout the race.

Utah Valley junior Hannah Branch was 10th in 20:46.4 and sophomore Zoe Hales was 11th in 20:49.9.

“We just kind of knew we could do it from the beginning,” Odekirk said.

Rono, originally from Kenya, led almost from start to finish, notching her third win in four meets this season. This is Abilene Christian’s first season in the WAC after coming over from the Southland Conference.

“I feel real good that I was able to keep up the pace,” Rono said. “Honestly, I did not know how it was going to be. It was a tough one...

“... I knew I could be around the top three,” she added later, “but I did not know I was going to win.”

Karinauskaite, who ran a personal best on the UCR course, was followed by freshmen Yasna Petrova (fifth, 20:22.1) and Liza Hazuchova (seventh, 20:39). Cal Baptist's three-season conference winning streak was snapped.

“We were expecting to win, the guys and the girls,” Karinauskaite said, “so maybe we’re not the happiest we can be. Second is good, as well.”

Abilene Christian’s third-place showing had two other top-10 finishes – sophomore Prudence Kiyeng was eighth in 20:43.6 and senior Briahna Gerlach was ninth in 20:45 – and five scorers in the top 30 overall.

Fourth in the conference final last season, LePallec broke away from the front in the race’s second half to finish ahead of runner-up Ivo Balabanov, who ran 23:35.6. Cal Baptist claimed the next three spots, with sophomores Giedrus Valincius (third, 23:51) and Arturs Medveds (fourth, 23:57.8) and junior Said Mechaal (fifth, 23:58.1).

Valincius was the conference's defending champion from the meet run Feb. 27 due to COVID-19 delays.

“The goal wasn’t to push too early and not die at the finish,” said LePallec, who said this was his first U.S. race victory. “I decided to stay with the group until 3 kilometers, and then I pushed. I saw that I made a gap quickly, so I decided to push again. And finally, I was just like 100 meters in front of the second guy, who was Ivo from our team. I stayed relaxed until the end.”

Utah Valley’s men, who won the WAC in 2018 and 2019, had a strong showing behind Cal Baptist with five of the next six finishers behind Mechaal.

Junior Geofrey Kemboi was sixth in 23:58.9, with Habtamu Cheney was seventh in 23:59.4 and Britain Reynolds – third in February – placed eighth in 23:59.9.

Freshman Max Mahon was 10th (24;15.9) and sophomore Austin Hone was 11th (24:18.5).

Utah Valley felt at home on the UCR course, as the Wolverines usually ran at least one of UC Riverside’s invitationals.

“We went fast and we just tried to hang on the best we could,” Reynolds said. “I think maybe we could have executed some things better, but overall, I’d say I was still pretty happy with the team’s performance.

“We keep track of our average on this course year after year, and we've never had a team average that fast – not even close.”

Dixie State junior Kevin Kirk was the other top-10 finisher, placing ninth in 24:05.7. Dixie State finished fifth as a team with 157 points, behind third-place Grand Canyon (110) and fourth-place Lamar (139).