Editor’s Note: This is the fifth installment of a series in which TMU Sports Information Director Mason Nesbitt ranks the Mustang moments he feels were most memorable from 2018.

6) Leaving It All On The Course (Nov. 3, 2018)
Mikala Tockstein’s performance at the GSAC cross country championships was something worth witnessing.

Mikala Tockstein crossed the finish line at Central Park in Santa Clarita and collapsed into the arms of her husband. The senior left it all on the course on Nov. 3, winning the Golden State Athletic Conference individual title and setting a new collegiate record for TMU’s course at Central Park (17 minutes, 34 seconds).

Tockstein (formerly Fairchild) was the second straight Mustang to win the event, Abigail Frankian taking home the crown last year, and this effort had special significance because it was Tockstein’s last race in the city where she grew up.

She competed for Hart High School in Newhall, which runs its league meets at Central Park.

Two weeks after conference finals, Tockstein competed at NAIA nationals in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, along with Arianna Ghiorso, a TMU freshman whom Fairchild mentored.

“She’s definitely shown me all the ropes,” Ghiorso said. “She has pushed me so much in practice. I know I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for having her as a training partner.”

7) Forrar For The Win (Jan. 25, 2018)
Hannah Forrar found a rhythm early against No. 2 Vanguard, leading TMU women’s basketball to a momentous win.

For Hannah Forrar, the moment was rather simple. “I shot my shot and it felt good tonight,” Forrar said on Jan. 25 after scoring a career-high 34 points in a win over then-No. 2 Vanguard University.

The Mustangs entered the home game below .500 in Golden State Athletic Conference play, while Vanguard had lost all of once in 15 games.

It didn’t matter.

Forrar made 8-of-11 shots, 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. She was 14-of-19 from the free throw line.

In the first half, she tossed in 18 points as the Mustangs built a 34-23 lead over the Lions, who went on to advance to the quarterfinals of the NAIA Division 1 national tournament.

Forrar hit a 3-pointer on TMU’s first possession of the second half, and Master’s led by as many as 17 in the fourth quarter.

TMU qualified for the NAIA Division 1 national tournament for the sixth straight season, and Forrar was named an NAIA All-American honorable mention pick after averaging 12.9 points a game, a team high.

8) A Furious Finish (April 27, 2018)
Stephen Pacheco saved his best for last, taking a GSAC track and field title in stunning fashion.

Over the last couple years, when you talk about Golden State Athletic Conference distance running, the conversation starts with Westmont’s Michael Oldach.

The junior is the conference’s two-time defending men’s cross country champion and a national contender in track and field.

So, when TMU’s Stephen Pacheco surged to the front of the pack in the 5,000 meters at conference finals on April 27, it was no small thing.

Pacheco won the race in 15 minutes, 51.55 seconds — more than seven seconds ahead of Oldach — and made the moment all the more iconic by spreading his arms wide as he crossed the finish line at Westmont’s track. His teammates swarmed him in celebration of his first GSAC individual track and field title.

Pacheco went on to compete in prelims at the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and figures to be a major contributor for TMU on the track this season as a senior.

9) Captain Clutch (Nov. 3, 2018)
Hailey Gomillion netted her first career hat trick when Mustang women’s soccer needed her most.
Something easily forgotten about the day Hailey Gomillion recorded the first hat trick of her career is that the Mustangs actually trailed at halftime.

That’s because the final score on Nov. 3 was 5-2 — Master’s seemingly cruising into its third straight Golden State Athletic Conference tournament semifinal.

But that wasn’t the case.

The Mustangs trotted off Reese Field and into the locker room with Arizona Christian ahead 2-1 after the quarterfinal’s first 45 minutes. Gomillion had scored in the second minute, but otherwise, Master’s appeared headed for an early offseason.

Then Gomillion put the ball into the net in the 48th minute, and she did it again nearly two minutes later.

Her heroics were not unexpected, nor were they unprecedented. Three times early in the season, the senior captain scored in the 80th minute or later to tie the score or give Master’s a lead.

This game played to that narrative: She was Captain Clutch.

Gomillion finished the year with a team- and career-high nine goals en route to being named an All-GSAC pick and an NAIA All-American honorable mention selection, each for the second straight season.

Fifth-year senior Kellian Ahearn was also an honorable mention NAIA All-American for a Mustang squad that reached double-digit wins for the ninth time in the last 11 years.

10) Opening With a Bang (Jan. 19, 2018)
Josh Robison put together one of the best single-game performances in Mustang baseball history.

When Monte Brooks can’t remember an offensive performance quite like this, you know it belongs among the year’s most memorable.

The 22nd-year manager watched from the dugout at the MLB Youth Academy in Compton on Jan. 19 as Josh Robison homered in each of his first three at-bats. The senior closed the day with a triple, going an immaculate 4-for-4 with five RBIs in the 15-7 win over Marymount California University.

The home runs were the first three of Robison’s career, and they narrowly missed matching TMU’s single-game record for home runs (four), set by Andy Martin in 1992.

Robison went on to finish second on the team in home runs with eight. Aaron Shackelford led the squad with 11 homers and earned All-Golden State Athletic Conference honors.