THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.  — After not getting to compete in 2020, the California Lutheran University men's cross country team is set to hit the course in 2021.

The Kingsmen have a good mix of returners and newcomers with two seniors, juniors and sophomores, and three freshmen. Nicholas Abbinanti and Luke VanKeersbilck are the seniors leading the way as the Purple and Gold are excited to be back. 

The season gets underway on Sept. 4 as the Kingsmen travel to Brea, Calif., for the Mark Covert Classic at Carbon Canyon Regional Park. 

Roster | Schedule

We talked with Head Coach Brett Halvaks for some insight on the new season. 

What is your outlook going into the 2021 season? I have a positive outlook for the Kingsmen 2021 Cross Country season. Having not had the opportunity to compete in the Fall of 2020, I am very much looking forward to coaching the Kingsmen and watching them compete this season. The Kingsmen have a great mix of upperclassmen and first/second years on the team. I feel as though we should be a very balanced team all season and I believe all nine Kingsmen on our roster have the opportunity to be scoring members of the team this season.  

What can you tell us about your schedule? Any specific races to look out for? The Kingsmen will be competing in six cross country meets during the Fall 2021 season. The first four meets will be Invitationals where we will have the opportunity to compete against not only other SCIAC schools but also schools from other Divisions in the NCAA, schools from the NAIA and from the Community College level. Our two main races of the season will be our last two, SCIAC Champs and NCAA West Regionals, we will be focused on having our best performances at these two meets. The way the schedule falls this season, the SCIAC Champs and NCAA West Regionals are running on the same course (we are also running one of our four Invitationals on that course) so we will have the advantage of being fairly familiar with the course. 

The team returns a good chunk, and you also have new guys, what can you tell us about the team? Luke VanKeersbilck is the Kingsmen team captain and one of our upperclassmen leaders. Three out of the nine Kingsmen have completed a cross country season at Cal Lutheran in the past so we will be leaning on their experience and knowledge of the cross country courses. Five of our nine Kingsmen competed in the shortened Track & Field season this past Spring so they have experience with what the training will be like as the training between cross country and distance track has some similarities. I am very excited to see how the 3 freshmen Kingsmen, and 2 sophomores who didn't have the opportunity for a freshmen cross country season, transition to the longer distance at the college level (8K in college, 3 mile/5K at the high school level) and the impact they can have on our team.  

How excited are you and the team for the 2021 year? The Kingsmen and I are very excited for the 2021 Cross Country season. No one has had the opportunity to compete in a race for Cal Lutheran Cross Country since November 2019 so everyone is ready to get back out there and compete. The team reports to campus on Monday August 23rd and we are all very excited to be back training together in preparation for the 2021 Cross Country Season. 

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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director