California Lutheran University’s men’s and women’s cross country teams completed their Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship meet for this season on Nov. 2 in Brea, California.

According to milesplit.live.com, the Kingsmen finished eighth with 234 points and the Regals finished eighth, as well, with 196 points. 

Junior Summer Gelman was the first Regal to cross the finish line. She finished with a time of 22:54.70 and placed 10th. Gelman said the championship was very challenging. 

“It was hard to keep going but you have to just flip that switch in your head and just honestly, like, lean in the pain and just accept the fact that you’re gonna face pain, but, like, when you get to cross that finish line it’s definitely worth the pain you’re enduring,” Gelman said. 

Gelman said the team’s biggest challenge was when the Regals were spread apart throughout the race. Gelman said it can be a little hard running on their own when they are used to having their teammates running at each other’s side.

“Watching everybody crossing the finish line, like, just getting to see that, and, like, being with each other after we all run a very hard race. It’s a very special feeling,” Gelman said. 

In Saturday’s event, senior Eric Talbert was the first Kingsmen to finish, coming in 44th place, and ran a time of 26:47.50. Before going into the race, Talbert said this season did have some ups and downs, but he felt prepared for the race on Saturday.

“I’m definitely at a high point right now and confident in my physical abilities, so I feel like going into it. I’m really optimistic about what I’m going to accomplish this upcoming Saturday,” Talbert said.

Talbert said his main way of overcoming his challenges during the championship race was going into the race with a positive mindset. 

“I feel like mentality plays such a big role when it comes to racing, especially when you are racing an event that’s gonna be 25 or 30 minutes,” Talbert said. “One little slip up in your mind can cause a snowball effect and just cause you to go down a massive downfall and that’s definitely happened to me before.”

Talbert said the team motivation comes from having a bond with one another and being there for each other to support. 

“I feel like when it comes to motivating each other, it goes beyond just that teammate-to-teammate relationship and it goes, ‘Hey we are a family, we are a bond of brothers,’” Talbert said.

Head Coach Brett Halvaks said the biggest strategy was getting the teams to run together in small groups based on times in races so the groups would have similar goal times during practice. 

“It’s not just two hours a day of practicing together, we are a team, we are a family. That’s important to each other. 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so we are always there for one another,” Halvaks said.

Halvaks said the importance of this championship meet was focusing on the runner’s place over time for Saturday’s race. 

“Team comes first, and with that should come individual successes as well,” Halvaks said. 

Halvaks said the biggest thing to focus on is not letting the moment get too big for the teams and treating it the same as previous practices and races, even though it is a championship meet. 

“I feel like we’ve been getting better week by week, meet by meet so far this season,” Halvaks said. “Let’s just continue on that trajectory doing what we’ve been doing, not try to totally flip our race plan and mindset and do something drastically different we haven’t done all year.”

Cal Lutheran’s cross country teams are getting ready for the National Collegiate Athletic Association West Regionals in Portland, Oregon on Nov. 16. 

“I think collectively as a team we have a very hardworking group and I think everybody is more than capable of running a great race in Oregon on the 16th,” Gelman said.