In its second straight trip to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Cross Country Championships, The Master’s College men’s team posted another top ten finish as a team, and the women’s team ended in a similar spot.

It ended another historically successful season for both programs.

With basketball just starting up, many of TMC’s fall sports come to an end with the women’s soccer team reaching the National Christian College Athletic Association West Regional Final.

Unfortunately, California Baptist proved to be the Mustangs’ nemesis, as it ended the seasons of men’s soccer, women’s soccer and women’s volleyball.

Cross Country

The Master’s College men’s cross country team traveled to Vancouver, Wash. Saturday to take part in the NAIA Cross Country National Championships.

The Mustangs’ John Gilbertson finished in third place overall with a time of 24 minutes, 3 seconds. The time was 48 seconds off the leader, Kennedy Kithuka of Wayland Baptist of Texas.

Master’s had two runners in the top ten, as Anthony Pizzo joined Gilbertson by finishing with a time of 24:10, good for a fifth-place finish.

As a team the Mustangs total time of 2 hours, 6 minutes and 33 seconds was good for a tenth-place finish.

The women’s team finished in the same spot, with the Mustangs coming in tenth place overall with a time of 1:36:21.

Sophomore Holly Kopp led TMC individually by finishing 28th overall and 23rd among runners attached to a team. Her time of 18:23 earned All-American honors.

Men’s Soccer

The Mustangs (11-6-3) defeated Hope International on Thursday 7-1 to advance to the second round of the NCCAA West Regional.

In the match, Kevin Scheunemann led the team with two goals, while Joel Peluffo, Marcelo Silva, Jorge Serrano, Jonathan Taves and Jack Holmlund all put one in the net.

Scheunemann got the Mustangs out to an early lead with a third-minute goal, and Serrano struck less than four minutes later to score the eventual game winner.

Matthew Howard scored the lone goal for Hope International in the 41st minute to pull within 2-1.

The second round wasn’t as kind to the Mustangs, as they were shut out 2-0 in a loss to California Baptist on Saturday.

Women’s Soccer

The women’s soccer team also saw its season come to a close, losing to California Baptist NCCAA West Regional Final 1-0.

Scoring was hard to come by in the match, as each team took just one shot on goal in the second half. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, Cal Baptists’ one shot found the back of the net for the victory.

The Mustangs (11-10-1) found themselves in the final by defeating Trinity Lutheran in overtime Friday, 1-0. In the match, Natasha Coyle scored an unassisted goal in the 95th minute to give the Mustangs the golden-goal victory.

Women’s Basketball

The Mustangs traveled to Jackson, Tenn. to take part in the Rotary Classic on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The first two days saw TMC drop games to Freed Hardeman, 65-57, and Union, 76-48, both of Tennessee.

In the opening game, Lena Rivera led the team with 12 points, while Ella Joines added 11.

Overall though, the Mustangs (3-3) couldn’t keep up with Cal State San Marcos’ 48.9 percent shooting performance in the loss.

Saturday worked out better for the Mustangs, as they defeated Bethel of Tennessee 80-70 to send TMC back home with a win.

Women’s Volleyball

The Mustangs (20-15) were defeating in the NCCAA West Regional Finals on Thursday by California Baptist 25-17, 25-20, 25-18.

Victoria Callihan led the Mustangs with seven kills, Jamie Long had 12 assists and Rebecca Gieske led with 14 digs.

Cal Baptist jumped out to large leads in both the first and last sets. In the second set, Master’s kept it close, tying the set at 12 points apiece. The Lancers, though, pulled away en route to the 25-20 victory.

The Mustangs ended up in the final by defeating Arizona Christian 25-20, 25-13, 25-22 in the semifinals.

In that match Alyssa Gergina led the team with 17 assists, Rebecca Gieske added 14 digs, and Samantha Dougherty led with eight kills.

jstein@the-signal.com