Hall of Fame
The 1991 men’s cross country team may have been the single most dominant squad in the history of Point Loma Athletics. The nine members of the team; Robert Keter, Gus Arce, Ken Hall, Kenneth Jansson, Scott Lardner, Jim Michaelian, Steve Childs, Doug Ravasdy and Bryan Wallbank, are still amongst the legendary individuals to ever run for PLNU.
The 1991 team was a powerhouse out of the gate. They won five meets prior to the national championship, including dominating the Golden State Athletic Conference Championships with a record-setting 17-point performance.
Keter, Jansson and Lardner finished first, second and third for the Sea Lions. Then came Arce, Wallbank, Ravasdy and Hall which finished fifth through eighth, respectively. Each of the top seven runners for PLNU were named All-GSAC Performers, which to this day remains as the most all-conference selections Point Loma has ever received in a single-season.
The team would have nearly the same success at NAIA districts two weeks later when it won the race with 23 points. PLNU runners captured seven of the top 11 spots to win to district title by 51 points over Azusa Pacific. Just like at the GSAC Championships, Robert Keter paced the field en route to leading the Sea Lions to the win.
By capturing the district title, the Sea Lions would earn the right to compete in the NAIA Championships in Kenosha, Wisconsin for the fourth straight season.
Point Loma also earned victories earlier in the season at the prestigious Stanford Invitational (20-team field), the Aztec Invite (12 teams) and the Riverside Invitational (12 teams).
Keter was out in front of the pack each race for the Sea Lions, but the mark that defined this team was its depth, and the way the runners stayed in such a tight group. In each of the last four wins the top five finishers were never more than 53 seconds apart. This included the GSAC Championships when all five runners were only 30 seconds apart and at districts when there was just 42 seconds of separation between No. 1 and No. 5.
The success of the 1991 cross country team did not come unexpectedly as the Sea Lions had been building a program over the course of the previous few seasons. The GSAC Championship was the fourth straight for the men’s program.
It was also the third consecutive district championship, and ninth time in the previous 15 seasons PLNU had captured the title. By winning districts, Keter also became the 11th Sea Lion in that 15 year span to win the individual championship at districts.
The team was led by legendary coach and NAIA Hall of Famer Jim Crakes and assisted by current Point Loma head coach Jerry Arvin. Both men are current members of the PLNU Athletic Hall of Fame, as is Robert Keter (1999).
