PLNC Dominates Cross-Country Championships

The men’s cross-country team at Point Loma Nazarene College won another invitational Saturday, this time claiming the Golden State Athletic Conference championship on the eight-kilometer course at Fresno’s Woodward Park.

PLNC had seven of the top 10 finishers--including the first three and four of the top five--and won with only 17 points. It was the lowest team total in the history of the championships. Second-place Azusa Pacific came in with 64 points.

Robert Keter broke the tape at 25:45. Teammates Kenneth Jansson and Scott Lardner were second (25:47) and third (25:55).

Other PLNC top-10 finishers: Eben Robinson (fourth, 26:00), Gus Arce (fifth, 26:13), Brian Wallbank (sixth, 26:15), Doug Ravasdy (seventh, 26:26) and Ken Hall (eighth, 26:39).

The Crusaders previously had beaten several Division I schools in winning such prestigious meets as the Stanford Invitational, the Riverside Invitational and the Aztec Invitational.

Meanwhile, the success of the PLNC women is going almost unnoticed. They finished second with 41 points, five points behind Westmont. Vanessa Couch led the way for PLNC finishing second on the five-kilometer course in 18:40.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Sophomore Nikki Wallace had five solo blocks to tie a USD three-game match record as USD defeated Utah, 15-12, 15-8, 15-11.

Wallace also had nine kills. Andrea Bruns led USD (10-9) with 14 kills and Jennifer Lofftus added 12. Linda Wilcox led Utah (9-13) with 21 kills.

UC San Diego got 14 kills from Vikki Van Duyne and 13 from Liz Vesanovic in a 9-15, 15-8, 9-15, 15-10, 15-10 victory over Cal Poly Pomona in the Bronco Tournament. UCSD, ranked No. 1 in Division III, improved to 16-5.