Arizona Christian Begins Season at Redlands Invitational
Arizona Christian University men’s cross country began the 2011 season at the University of Redlands (Calif.) Invitational, Saturday, Sept. 3. ACU runs next at the Westmont College Invitational in Santa Barbara, Calif, Saturday, Sept. 17.
No team scores were recorded, and 62 runners finished the 6000-meter course (approximately 3.72 miles), which included the Redlands campus quad and two long loops through nearby Sylvan Park.
Running unattached, Robert Olivera, led all runners with a time of 19:13.84, nearly 24 seconds ahead of Collin Christensen from Biola University (Calif.) who cruised the course in 19:37.49. Rounding out its top seven finishers, Biola also placed runners in seventh, 10th, 11th, 13th, 21st, 29th and 30th places. San Bernardino Valley Community College placed seven runners in the top 14, and totaled 10 finishers in the top 20. Eric Perez led SBVCC with a time of 19:45.26, placing third.
Coached by former Washington High School (Phoenix) and Azusa Pacific University distance ace, Caleb Lynch, Arizona Christian’s first five finishers crossed the finish line in places ranging from 24 through 37 with a span of just one minute and 20.55 seconds separating them. Last season’s number one finisher and the school record-holder, junior Benjamin Johnson (Kigoma, Tanzania/Rift Valley Academy, Kenya) placed 24th with a time of 20:49.32, just 1.12 seconds ahead of sophomore Marcus Shisler (Phoenix, Ariz./Scottsdale Christian Academy), who crossed the line in 20:50.44.
Junior Kyle Marshall (Phoenix, Ariz./Shadow Mountain H.S.) toured the course in 21:05.34, good for 27th place overall, and freshman Tiler Frank (Phoenix, Ariz./Mountain Ridge H.S.) placed 31st with a time of 21:26.45. ACU’s fifth finisher, junior Matthew Allen Taylor (Glendale, Ariz./Ironwood H.S./Glendale CC) finished 37th in 22:10.27. Junior Thomas Dean (Winder, Ga./Winder-Barrow H.S.) completed ACU’s line-up with a time of 27:28.72, good for 58th place.
