Vanguard left out of the loop at regionals

Freshman finishes second for Lions in women’s race to qualify for NAIA finals, but men’s and women’s teams are unable to join her.Vanguard University’s cross-country teams were unable to qualify for the NAIA National Championships, but the school will be represented.

Grace Jepngetich finished second in the NAIA Region II women’s championship, held Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno. The freshman’s performance was enough to qualify her for the national championships on Nov. 19 in Louisville, Ky.

The Vanguard women placed sixth, and the men finished fifth in the regional meet. Both could conceivably qualify for the national championships as at-large teams, but the chances are remote.

Concordia University of Irvine won both races handily, automatically qualifying for the national championships.

Cal State San Marcos placed second in the women’s race, followed by Point Loma Nazarene, Westmont and Azusa Pacific. In the men’s race, Azusa Pacific finished second, followed by Cal State San Marcos and Westmont.

Jepngetich ran the five-kilometer course in a time of 17 minutes and 30 seconds, finishing 21 seconds behind Natalie Perkins of Concordia -- who set a new meet record with her time of 17:09. Rebecca Sopp gave the Lions -- who were ranked No. 18 in the nation entering the meet -- another top 10 finisher, as the freshman from Redondo Beach finished 10th in 18:35.

Olivia Amstad, Vanguard’s third freshman, placed 29th with a mark of 19:27 and was followed immediately by teammate Christol McDonald at 19:36. Laura Bowman rounded out the scoring for Vanguard, with a time of 19:51 to finish 41st.

In the men’s race, Matt Meyer led the Lions with a sixth-place finish of 25:33 over the eight-kilometer course, well behind winner Aaron Megazzi of Westmont (25:06). Teammate Huberto Rojas placed 11th in a time of 25:40.

Travis Hartanov finished 29th for the Lions with a mark of 26:29. The Lions, who were ranked No. 18 in the nation, were rounded out by Ryan Allen (27:52) and Alex Castro (27:53), who finished 50th and 51st, respectively.

The Vanguard women had been hoping to reach the national championships for the second consecutive year, after making the finals for the first time last season.