By Tim Heiduk
 
(SANTA CLARITA, Calif.) In the 2020 cross country season opener, Westmont freshmen led the way for both Warrior teams at The Master's Invitational in Santa Clarita's Central Park.
 
Kacie Kwan won Race 2, finishing the women's 5K in a time of 20:22.2, to help the Warriors finish the race in second place as a team. Caleb Mettler ran the second-fastest men's 8K time in Race 2 (27:30.2) to pace Westmont to a team victory in the race.
 
In order to follow safety protocols relating to COVID-19, both the men's and women's meets were split into two races each. The meet director selected the fields for all four races, which consisted of solely Golden State Athletic Conference teams.
 
Both Warrior squads ran in the second race of their respective meets, competing against Arizona Christian, Hope International and San Diego Christian.
 
"It was youth day for the Warriors," Westmont head coach Russell Smelley said. "Kacie Kwan left no doubt she was out for the win, as she led from start to finish in a solid time of 20:22.2. She was relaxed throughout the race with a beautiful running stride and all smiles."
 
For the women, the top three finishers were all freshmen. After Kwan, Gretchen Scherrei placed fourth in a time of 21:27.3, while Jenae McInnes finished seventh (22:28.2). Abigail Stadtlander (10th place, 22:49.4) and Abigail Edwards (11th place, 23:00.4) rounded out Westmont's top-five.
 
The Warriors accumulated a team score of 29 to place second in Race 2, just three points behind Arizona Christian, which won the race with a team score of 26.
 
On the men's side, three of Westmont's top-five were freshmen, including the top two. Mettler, who crossed the line in the second-fastest time in Race 2, was credited with a first-place finish when counting team scores because the runner who beat him came from Hope International, who did not race with the required minimum of five runners.
 
"Freshmen Caleb Mettler and Mitch Groff led the Warrior men with sophomore Adam King close behind," Smelley said. "Freshman Ben Reasner closed the Warrior scoring as the fifth runner. Senior Chris Hanessian ran a strong race and stayed focused throughout to give the Warriors a successful top-five grouping of 64 seconds and a first-place team in Race 2 at The Master's Invitational."
 
After Mettler, Groff (fourth place, 27:46.2), King (fifth place, 27:48.2), Hanessian (seventh place, 28:12.7) and Reasner (ninth place, 28:34.7) were also part of the Warriors' scoring five.
 
Westmont's team score of 21 earned the Warriors first place in Race 2, 16 points ahead of second-place Arizona Christian.
 
Including this race, all three of Westmont cross country's tune-up meets before the 2020 GSAC Championships are against only conference opposition.
 
"Since we have three meets with all GSAC teams attending, it was felt we should refrain from all head-to-head each time," Smelley said as to what considerations the meet director took into account when selecting the fields for the different races at The Master's Invitational.
 
Cross country is the second Westmont sport to resume competition, following in the footsteps of golf, which competed earlier this week at the Vanguard Invitational.
 
On Friday, the GSAC Cross Country Preseason Polls were released, with both Westmont teams predicted to finish third in the conference this season.
 
Westmont's next meet is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 9 at 4:30 p.m., a meet the Warriors are hosting. The Four-Way Invite will be comprised of Westmont, Vanguard, Hope International and William Jessup.