By Mason Nesbitt, TMU Sports Information Director

Mikala Fairchild (pictured above) was well aware of the larger context surrounding The Master’s University XC Invitational on Saturday.

Because Central Park will also host the Golden State Athletic Conference Championship in November, a grip of conference teams showed up to preview the course.

“It gave us an idea of where we’re at right now and what we need to work on,” Fairchild said. “So, we see where the other teams are. It’s kind of fun to be like, ‘We need to track down exactly this many people.'”

In the case of Fairchild, that wasn’t many.

The senior finished third, crossing the finish line in 17 minutes, 51.1 seconds. It was her second straight top-three finish at TMU’s home event and a new lifetime best at Central Park. She was the top finisher from the GSAC.

“This was one of the best races I’ve seen her run,” said head coach Zach Schroeder. “It was an All-American run for sure.”

Fairchild said she was encouraged by the fact that the gap is closing between the front of TMU’s pack and the back. The Mustangs’ top three runners finished within three minutes of each other.

Arianna Ghiorso was the Mustangs’ second finisher, posting a time of 18:46.7, good for 30th place.

USC’s Amber Gore won the race in 17:45.8.

Master’s finished 14th collectively, coming in behind GSAC teams Vanguard (sixth place) and Westmont (11th).

So, the chase begins.

The Mustangs, who won the first GSAC title in program history last season, won’t race again until Oct. 20 at the Warrior Invitational in Rocklin, Calif.

“For our team, we really want to worship God through our effort,” Fairchild said. “So, the main goal overall is just to use this as a form of worship.”

And?

“I think we did well,” Fairchild said. “I think the girls probably thought it was one of the harder races, but I thought they ran well.”

For the full results, click here.