FULLERTON, Calif. – Crimson, black, and blue were on full display in and around Cal State Fullerton’s campus on Saturday, Aug. 30. Loyola Marymount women’s cross country team opened their 2025 season with a second place team showing at the Mark Covert Classic. The Lion Distance Club also opened their season in its second year on campus.
Coming off summer training, many Lions set or fell short of personal bests within their respective races. Newcomers to the program, and LMU, also made their collegiate debut and transition into longer distance racing.
The meet’s first event was the men’s eight-kilometer race. The Lion Distance Club suited up eight runners at the starting line, including two runners racing the near five mile distance for the first time. The club’s first scorer, senior Ben Hefner, finished 27th overall, with a time of 25:14.1, over a 32-second personal best. Club President Benjamin Peraza, also in his senior year, opened up his season running 26:38.1.
LMU President Thomas Poon, in red, posing with The Lion Distance Club. Photograph by Sebastian Rosales Valdez.
“Today’s race was all around good for our team,” said Peraza. “For me personally, definitely a lot of things to work on, but overall everyone had a great day, and a lot of big PR‘s.”
The men finished 7th overall as a team. Junior Adam Neulander ran 26:42.7, freshman Robert Del Rio notched 26:46 in his collegiate debut, and sophomore Rowan Moore clocked 27:41.3, running a minute over his personal best to round out the top five scorers for the Lions.
The LDC was formed by student-athletes on LMU’s men’s cross country and track and field teams who wanted to continue competing after the programs were cut. Without the amenities of a Division 1 program, the continuity of the LDC will have to rely on the interest and commitment of LMU students. “Getting new people is definitely harder, especially since we’re trying to keep the club as much in align with the team as it once was,” said Peraza. “Recruiting new people and trying to hold them to those expectations is sometimes hard, but we’re doing our best.”
“We’re not too far removed from the cuts,” said John Pickhaver, coach of the club, and assistant coach for the women’s cross country team. “There’s people on the roster that were on a D1 team that are really helping shape the attitude of this club,” said Pickhaver. “And then there’s a lot of new people in the club who have bought into that, and they’re carving out an identity for themselves.”
Having an identity will help the LDC as the season progresses, alongside veteran experience. “We’ll just continue to train hard, be a good unit as a team because that always helps in training and racing,” said Peraza. “Help the new guys as much as we can, and show them the ropes that the older guys showed us once.
Hayden Washington, in blue and red, leading the chase pack. Photograph by Sebastian Rosales Valdez.
On the women’s side, the Lions moved up early and executed late over the six-kilometer race. Climbing up four places between the first split marker and the second one, which was at two-kilometers. Four of five LMU scorers packed up through the two-kilometer mark, coming in 17th through 20th place. Senior Hayden Washington led the charge for the Lions, moving up fourteen places and positioning herself 6th.
Washington continued to make her way up, dropping the chase pack at the third split marker and positioning herself 3rd with less than half of the race to go. Washington would finish second.
“I wanted to go in and not really have major expectations for myself, ” said Washington, expressing how the race served more as a way to see her fitness going into the season. Washington notes that she made time in her race for “mental check-ins,” gauging her feelings to make moves as the race progressed.
Closing a distance gap in racing is never easy, but Washington did not shy away. “It’s seeing how you feel in that moment, and just not really thinking about it,” said Washington. “It’s kind of just like, ‘Ok, who am I looking at,’ to see if I can get up to that person, and then, trying to push as much as possible to do that.” Washington’s goals for her last season is to push herself and be competitively in the mix at conference and regionals.
Despite the strong momentum, LMU finished second as host-team Cal State Fullerton defeated the Lions, winning the meet with a team score of 33, to LMU’s 58. Junior Rylee Guinn, also placed in the top ten, finishing ninth with a 25-second PB in 21:35.3. The rest of the Lions scorers were juniors Ava Boyd, running 21:53.4, Tessa Kline in 22:07.2, and recent University of Hawaii transfer Alex Zanon in 22:23.8.
Kailey O’Brien and Hayden Washington, in red and blue, charge up the hill. Photograph by Sebastian Rosales Valdez.
Freshman Kailey O’Brien, Colette Heil, and Kelsey Calhoun made their collegiate debut for LMU. The program hadn’t welcomed a recruiting class in over a year. Head Coach Chloe Curtis has enjoyed the newcomers’ presence on the team. “They’re all really good fits for our team culture,” said Curtis. “Today they made a big impact competitively as well.”
Curtis believes that the added depth will allow them to take more risks in racing, saying that “If somebody goes out a little too fast and pays for it, there’s gonna be plenty of girls right there to pick them up.” The larger roster size this year allows for the team to better navigate injuries, NCAA compliance, and race line-ups.
The newcomers’ presence is also being felt outside of racing. “Having that big group of girls is really uplifting and we get a lot more support for each other,” said Washington. “It’s been really awesome just to be around everybody, and get to see them everyday, and run with them.”
Pickhaver credits the returners for the program’s growth this academic year. “The girls on the team, in the wake of the cuts, really just doubled down on their commitment to the team when it could’ve gone the other way, ” said Pickhaver. “I think that showed high school students, ‘Oh, LMU? They’re still the real deal.’”
LMU’s cross country team and the Lion Distance Club will next suit up Sept. 20 at The Master Invitational at Central Park in Santa Clarita, Calif.
