Azusa Pacific Unversity’s men’s and women’s cross country teams officially kicked off the championship season by earning third and second places, respectively, at the Pacific West Conference Championships Nov. 7 at Fresno Pacific.
The men’s team was topped by Cal Baptist in first place with 31 points, and Academy of Art in second place with 71 points. APU finished with 77 points. Senior applied exercise science major Peter Buscheck finished fifth with a time of 25:23.6, which earned him All-PacWest first team honors.
Sophomore communications major Kyle Bueckert finished 15th and freshman business management major Jeremy Porter 16th for APU.
The women’s team earned second place, finishing below Cal Baptist, which had 56 points over APU’s 59. Senior sociology major Staci Foster finished fourth overall with a time of 21:44.9, which gave her All-Pac West first team honors. Freshman music major Eileen Stressling finished 10th overall.
Foster, a transfer from University of Colorado, has run very well this season, finishing second with 22:13.3 in her previous meet at the Triton Classic at UC San Diego Oct. 25.
The next step for the team is to head to the NCAA West Regional Championships, which will be held in Billings, Montana, Nov. 22. This competition will determine the regional champions.
The team’s goal would be to finish in the top six at regionals. If the team does not qualify for regionals, individuals can still compete in nationals, which is why the individual results are so important. The PacWest will be able to send six teams to the nationals because of previous success.
Two weeks following regionals, the NCAA Division II National Championships will be held in Louisville, Kentucky, Dec. 6.
Last season, the men’s team placed third at the PacWest conference championships, while the women’s team won first place. The championship was the second consecutive for the women.
Last year, Grand Valley State won the NCAA Division II National Championship, its third in the last four years.