By Jacob Norling
October 25, 2025
 
(HONOLULU) Westmont Men's and Women's Cross Country ran under a rising Hawaii sun on Saturday morning, where the Warriors took part in the 2025 PacWest Championships. For the men, a pair of All-PacWest finishers highlighted a fifth-place finish out of ten teams, while Westmont's women finished eighth out of 12.
 
In the women's 6K, it was Molly Sandridge who emerged as Westmont's top-finisher for the first time in her career. With a time of 24:22.4, Sandridge came in 52^nd place.
 
"There was that one big hill that I had in my head the whole time," offered Sandridge. "With that, I knew I had to use the downhill to my advantage. At that point, I just had to lean in and let it go. It didn't matter if it hurt, because I knew I'd have enough time to recover. That downhill was huge to allow me to recover going into the final stretch.
 
Sandridge continued, "Being this team's top-finisher is something I've never had on my list, my entire college career. I was kicking with everything I had to make it happen, and yes, it's something I am proud of."
 
Sophie Stoddart and Adalyn Rodriguez were the next Warriors to cross the finish line, with Stoddart coming in 57^th (24:24.3), and Rodriguez coming in 59^th (24:30.0). Claire Van Horn finished in 61^st for the Warriors (24:43.50, while Grace Roesgen was Westmont's fifth runner in 69^th (25:11.4).
 
Overall, the women landed in eighth with a score of 258. Biola's women dominated the front of the pack with a 42-point championship performance.
 
"Overall, not quite what we wanted," acknowledged Coach Lindsey Connolly. "We were hoping to improve upon our placing from the beginning of the year, but it didn't happen. It was big with one of our top runners being unable to finish, Molly realized that we didn't have her and she stepped up big. That was huge for Molly to step up in a place where needed her, and to end up being our top-finisher."
 
Connolly continued, "It's been great getting to spend this time in Hawaii together. Obviously, we haven't done a whole lot because we've been getting ready for this race, but it has been a great experience. Hawaii Pacific did a great job hosting this. This course is challenging, but it is a good cross country course, and it was fun to race here."
 
For Westmont's men in the 8K the team tallied 130 points in fifth, while they, too, watched Biola hoist the trophy with a score of 35.
 
Individually, however, the day's highlight came from Westmont's top-two finishers, where both Samuel Nealon and Hunter Skoglund snagged the last two All-PacWest honors. Nealon led the way in 20^th with a time of 25:57.2, while Skoglund came in a blink later in 21^st with a time of 25:58.7.
 
"That was definitely a surprise," said Nealon, in regards to making the All-PacWest team. "My A-goal going in was top-30, and my B-goal going in was top-40. So, yes, it feels great to be top-20.
 
"It was honestly probably my favorite course I have ever run. It's easy to love the course when you run well, but even yesterday I was excited to be out here. It felt like real cross country."
 
Skoglund said, "I definitely fulfilled my expectations for myself. I was definitely a little nervous, having never run a course like this before, but I just kept plugging on and kept pushing. I was able to step up today, definitely, and that's something I can be happy about."
 
Luke Hein, who also threatened to make the All-Conference list for much of the race, finished in 26^th with a time of 26:22.9. Westmont's top-five was rounded out by Tyler Allan in 31^st (26:38.23), and Kaeden Anderson in 33^rd (26:48.6).
 
Coach Chris Hanessian said, "I felt nervous going into this race, because I know we have some very competitive teams in this conference. The guys knew every spot mattered today, and I think they took that to heart.
 
"I am proud of them today. It's hard, you know, when you're not in that front pack you're not going to be competitive with the top teams in this conference. That's something we are missing. We need someone, or even a couple people, who really hang with that front pack.
 
"Still, what is a tough race? Yes, but the guys went for it. When I saw them run by I could see it on them, they were fighting. To have two people finish all-conference, I am very pleased with that."
 
The Warriors will fly home on Sunday afternoon.