Fresno Pacific women’s cross country finished a hard season while the men’s team finished strong with one of the best in Sunbirds history. The men finished 23rd in their first appearance at the NAIA Cross Country National Championships.
Three Sunbirds finished in the top 100 individual runners to help the Sunbirds finish 23rd of the 32 team event. Benny Madrigal finished 70th, Cesar Rodriguez came in 82nd, and right behind him in 84th was Isai Orea.
The remaining four runners, Javier Sanchez, Claudio Moreno, Joshua Hodges and Nathan DeVault, finished respectively, 115th, 125th, 169th and 181st. There were over 200 athletes participating in the race.
The women finished their season at the GSAC Championships at Woodward Park. While the men finished second in the conference, the women finished eighth. Amanda Johnson finished in 21st as the highest female finisher for the Sunbirds, followed by Kaili Zink at 25th.
Coach Eric Schwab earned GSAC Coach of the Year from his team’s performance at conference, and his men’s trip to nationals.
The Sunbirds finished the regular season #16 in the NAIA after finishing second in the GSAC. Previously, the Sunbirds best finish had been #20 at the end of the season. Coach Schwab commented, “The guys have been running great all season, and should be ready for nationals,” he continued in response to the coaches’ award, “I would rather have the guys finish their season this well every year over a coach of the year honor.”