The Master’s University Men’s Cross Country team dominated from start to finish and won the race, beating host BIOLA by 33 points as they never once relinquished the lead. The women finished second, falling to BIOLA by just 10 points.

Fifth-year senior Brint Laubach took the individual win with a time of 24:44 as the Mustangs put up a tally of just 22 points to take the win. Laubach’s surge at the 3-mile mark separated him from the pack and allowed him to put more than 20 seconds on the second-place runner.

“Our hope is that when others see us run, they see Christ,” Laubach said. “I was able to run with dependence on the Lord, and that is vastly more important than any position or place in a competition.”

Following Laubach was Daniel Rush in third (25:14), and a pack of Jack Anderson (25:26), Jake Fredericks (25:33) and Connor Ybarra (25:37) ran together, finishing in sixth, seventh and eighth place, respectively.

TMU moved up well in the last mile with several strong final kicks. Junior Rocky Rowedder kicked down 10 runners in the last mile, and Carson Jefford closed hard and passed 14 in the fifth and final mile.

The women finished second to NCAA DII No. 20 BIOLA in the team race, putting together 38 total points despite being in fourth place at the first mile. Hannah Fredericks took home the individual win with a time of 17:26, and her teammate Ellen Palmgren finished second in 17:56 with a strong closing 200m.

“I am so thankful for this race the Lord gave us. Coach told us to run together and make our last mile our fastest, and the togetherness of the team was certainly seen across the board,” Palmgren said.

Palmgren did just that and put together a substantial surge in the last mile to pass two BIOLA runners right at the line and give the Mustangs a 1-2 finish.

“We don’t run for ourselves but for the King of Glory, and His salvation is what motivates us in hopes that His name is glorified and that more people will come to faith in Him,” Palmgren said.

The Mustangs dropped their total team time by three minutes from the last meet to 1:32:40, with many other Mustangs achieving personal records, such as Suzie Johnson (18:46), Erini Shaker (19:52) and Megan Turner (19:57).

TMU will get two weeks to prepare for their home meet, The Master’s University XC Invitational, on Sept. 23 at Central Park in Santa Clarita.

For more information visit TMU Sports at gomustangs.com.