Twelve student-athletes were honored on Thursday night at the Fourteenth Golden Eagle Award Dinner held at Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort. Referred to as the ‘best night of the year for Westmont Athletics,’ the event is sponsored by the Pacific Beverage Company and Pete and Gerd Jordano.

“It’s even better than our 28-point win over Azusa Pacific,” said associate athletic director and head women’s basketball coach Kirsten McKnight in welcoming the 125 attendees.

Westmont athletic director Dave Wolf served as master of ceremonies for the event and noted that the Westmont staff of head coaches tallied a combined 114 years of experience and that for seven of the coaches, their entire head coaching experience has been at Westmont.

In addition to athletic achievements this year at the NAIA National Championships, Westmont men’s and women’s cross country athletes were honored for both their character and their academic accomplishments.

Ten cross country runners were named NAIA Scholar-Athletes, which tied with St. Ambrose (Iowa) for the most from any institution. In order to received the honor, athletes must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.5 and be a junior or above in academic standing.

Seniors Robert Cherry of Laguna Niguel and Michael Searway of Riverbank, along with juniors Kirby Ifland of Versailles, Kentucky, and Daniel Lew of El Sobrante received the Scholar-Athlete award for men’s cross country.

From the women’s team, the Scholar-Athlete Award was given to seniors Lindsey Connolly of Carpinteria, Lindsey Cooper of Mount Hermon, Lisa Griego of Mountain View, Laura Shaver of Upland and Breanne Wiggins of Temecula. Kaitlyn Dunn of Tashkent, Uzbekistan received the award as a junior.

With an overcast sky and temperatures in the low 40s, Westmont men’s and women’s cross country competed in the NAIA National Championships on Saturday morning at the Dr. Wayne E. Dannehl Cross Country Course in Kenosha Wisconsin. The men’s squad finished sixteenth in the 28 team event, three better than their #19 national ranking. The women’s team finished seventeenth of 29 teams.

Senior Anna Stumbo posted a time of 18:14.6 in the women’s 5,000 meter race to claim 16th place and her fourth NAIA Cross Country All-American title. She joins Miriam Niednagel (1993-94) as the only two runners to earn All-American honors in each of their four years at Westmont.

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Fourteen members of the Westmont men’s and women’s cross country teams are preparing to compete at the NAIA National Championship in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Saturday. The men’s team is returning to nationals for the third year in a row. The women’s squad makes its second appearance in the last two years.

“It feels exciting to have both teams going back to nationals for the first time in a couple of years,” said head coach Russell Smelley. “My hopes are top-10 finishes. Both teams could be in the top 10. I’d be happy with top 15 and disappointed if both teams finished over 20. I think they are better than that and better prepared both mentally and physically.

Seniors Anna Stumbo and Lisa Griego earned All-NAIA Region II honors on Saturday at the NAIA Region II Championships which were held in Fresno. The women, who are ranked at number 18 in the NAIA, finished in fourth place while the #25 men took fifth.

Stumbo placed fourth in the field of 85 runners with a time 18:08 over the 5,000 meter course. The time was the third best performance ever by a Warrior at the Woodward Park course. Stumbo is also the owner of the two times better than today’s. Griego claimed eleventh place, completing the course in a time of 18:22, the fourth best performance by a Warrior at Woodward Park.

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Seniors Anna Stumbo and Lisa Griego finished fourth and fifth respectively at the Golden State Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships on Saturday afternoon to lead the Westmont women’s team to a fourth place finish in Costa Mesa. Stumbo, a three-time cross country All-American finished the 5,000 meter course in 18:16, and Griego crossed the finish line one second later. Both earned All-GSAC honors.

Rounding out the scoring for the women were freshman Katie Fritzke (19:12) who placed nineteenth, sophomore Christa Juell (19:37) who claimed twenty-seventh place and junior Kaitlyn Dunn (19:43) who was thirty-first.

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In a final tune-up before the Golden State Athletic Conference Championships this coming Saturday, Westmont men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled north to participate in the Santa Clara Invitational on Saturday.

The men’s squad placed twelfth out of 17 teams, twelve of which were from NCAA Division I schools, despite missing Andrew Dixon and All-American Aaron Megazzi who were unable to compete because of bouts with the flu. Senior Robby Cherry was Westmont’s top finisher completing the course in 25:29 which earned him a twenty-seventh place finish out of 158 competitors, the second best finish by an NAIA athlete at the event. Freshman Jacob Goodin was Westmont’s second finisher, claiming sixty-sixth place in a time of 26:16.

[results]

Junior Andrew Dixon and senior Aaron Megazzi finished second and third at the 27th Westmont Invitational to lead #11 Westmont Men’s Cross Country to their fourth straight win at the annual event. Dixon completed the 8,000 meter course in a time of 26:23 while Megazzi posted a time of 26:34.

The #17 Westmont Women’s Cross Country team placed third with senior Anna Stumbo claiming fourth place in a time of 19:29. Stumbo won the event in both her freshman and sophomore year. #8 Biola won the race with 33 points followed by Fresno Pacific in second place with 45 points. The Warriors tallied 61 points. California Lutheran finished fourth with 127 points.

[men’s results] [women’s results]