IRVINE, Calif. – On a beautiful Saturday morning at the OC Great Park in Irvine, the starter's gun sounded, signifying the beginning of the first PacWest Championship in Jessup University history. Amidst a field of the best runners the conference has to offer, four Warriors finished with a PR as new conference champions were crowned.
 
"I think this was a great experience for our teams to get a feel for what this will look like moving forward compared to previous seasons in the GSAC," said head coach Jeff Magley. "It was a great course; they did a wonderful job. It was a beautiful day, just a great environment with the fans, the award ceremony, and the setup. It was just a great championship experience for our program to be a part of."
 
The 2024 PacWest Cross Country Champions are Azusa Pacific (Men) and Biola (Women). It was a great day for the Cougars of APU, as they also claimed both individual championships, with Jared Wright (23:51) and Jessica Kampman (20:28) walking away with some hardware.
 
The Warriors, who wrap up their first season in the PacWest, see a tenth-place finish on the men's side and a 13th-place finish for the women.
 
On the men's team performance, Magley noted, "We knew it was going to be a tight battle for us, and the scores reflect that. Today was a good reminder that cross country takes all five runners to get the team score you want. That was the difference today with the three teams we were battling with."
 
Magley added on the women's performance, "It was a great experience for the ladies as well. They all fought hard. We had four women competing in their first cross-country season and their first cross-country championship. Hats off to each of them. They did a great job battling through their first Division II championship."
 
There were four PRs posted by Jessup runners, one in the men's 8k and the other three coming in the women's 6k. Oscar Duncan Jr. posted a personal record for the second race in a row, as he ran a time of 33:44. Alexis Housh ran 31:14, followed by Lydia Kang at 31:27 and Jaylee Hameister at 33:24.
 
The Jessup men were led by Zachary Heberlein with his time of 27:48. Others in the field included Ethan Loomis (29:57), Devon Hammeke (30:35), Antonio Leal, and Duncan. Cheyenne Ullrich led the women's side with a time of 26:04, followed by Tayla Starr (26:52), Housh, Kang, Erica Waseq (34:36), and Hameister.
 
One meet remains on the schedule, the NCCAA National Championship, as two Warriors have met the qualifying standard for the meet. Heberlein and Ullrich will continue their training, as their next look at competition comes on November 15 from Warsaw, IN.  
Jessup University is a provisional member of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division II and the PacWest Conference. For additional information regarding Jessup Athletics, visit www.jessupathletics.com; visit www.jessup.edu for more information on Jessup University. Follow Jessup Athletics on social media: Jessup University Athletics (Facebook) and @JessupAthletics (Instagram & X).