California Baptist University Men's Cross Country

Gall took over the California Baptist University cross country/distance track programs in 2012 and has kept the pace successfully over the past five years. Gall received consecutive PacWest Coach of the Year awards in 2012 and 2013 after the mens cross country team won conference titles, stretching their championship streak to three seasons. This past year (2015-16), Gall grabbed the honor once again as his teams swept the championship, extending the mens streak to five-straight PacWest titles and the women winning their third overall, second consecutive crown. In cross country, he has coached 36 all-conference runners, five All-Americans, three PacWest Newcomer of the Year, five All-West Region athletes, three conference freshmen of the year and the PacWest Runner of the Year once.   This past season, the Lancer men dominated the PacWest Championship meet with their fifth-straight title. While they didn't take the individual title for the fourth year in a row, CBU placed four runners in the top-10, with a conference-best nine runners grabbing all-conference nods.   The Lancer women also controlled the PacWest, scoring an impressive 22 points less than runner-up Azusa Pacific. The Lancers accounted for many of the top finishers, with seven grabbing all-conference honors.   On the track, CBU has produced six national champions, 25 All-Americans, 10 individual conference champions and 36 all-conference performances with Gall at the helm. This past year, Valentin Robert and Berenice Cleyet-Merle grabbed the two highest placings at the NCAA Division II Championship meet in program history. Robert took fifth overall in the 3,000-meter steeplechase to earn his second-straight All-American distinction. Cleyet-Merle also picked up All-American honors with a third-place finish in the 1500-meter race. Prior to coming to CBU, Gall spent the past 10 years as the associate head cross country/track coach at Northwest Nazarene University, an NCAA Division II institution in Nampa, Idaho. Gall helped coach two national champions, 17 All-Americans, 16 Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) champions, 45 All-GNAC recipients, 21 Scholar-Athletes and 110 Academic All-Conference honorees. Gall was also an assistant professor at NNU for multiple years. Gall led the Crusaders' men's team to a best finish in program history by placing fifth out of 17 teams at the NCAA Division II West Region Championships, narrowly missing out on a berth to the national championships by one spot. Most notably, Gall coached Ashley Puga to NCAA Division II titles in the 800 meters at both the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships in 2009. She went on to earn 2009 NCAA Division II track athlete of the year and was a finalist for NCAA Woman of the Year. A 2002 graduate of Eastern Oregon University in LaGrande, Ore., Gall earned his bachelor's in psychology and then completed his master's in elementary education in 2003 at Eastern Oregon. He received his Ph.D. in educational leadership and management from Capella University. Gall and his wife Rachel have three sons.   Ben Gall Head Cross Country/Track Coach Ben Gall took over the California Baptist University cross country/distance track programs in 2012 and has kept the pace successfully over the past five years. Gall received consecutive PacWest Coach of the Year awards in 2012 and 2013 after the mens cross country team won conference titles, stretching their championship streak to three seasons. This past year (2015-16), Gall grabbed the honor once again as his teams swept the championship, extending the mens streak to five-straight PacWest titles and the women winning their third overall, second consecutive crown. In cross country, he has coached 36 all-conference runners, five All-Americans, three PacWest Newcomer of the Year, five All-West Region athletes, three conference freshmen of the year and the PacWest Runner of the Year once.   This past season, the Lancer men dominated the PacWest Championship meet with their fifth-straight title. While they didn't take the individual title for the fourth year in a row, CBU placed four runners in the top-10, with a conference-best nine runners grabbing all-conference nods.   The Lancer women also controlled the PacWest, scoring an impressive 22 points less than runner-up Azusa Pacific. The Lancers accounted for many of the top finishers, with seven grabbing all-conference honors.   On the track, CBU has produced six national champions, 25 All-Americans, 10 individual conference champions and 36 all-conference performances with Gall at the helm. This past year, Valentin Robert and Berenice Cleyet-Merle grabbed the two highest placings at the NCAA Division II Championship meet in program history. Robert took fifth overall in the 3,000-meter steeplechase to earn his second-straight All-American distinction. Cleyet-Merle also picked up All-American honors with a third-place finish in the 1500-meter race. Prior to coming to CBU, Gall spent the past 10 years as the associate head cross country/track coach at Northwest Nazarene University, an NCAA Division II institution in Nampa, Idaho. Gall helped coach two national champions, 17 All-Americans, 16 Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) champions, 45 All-GNAC recipients, 21 Scholar-Athletes and 110 Academic All-Conference honorees. Gall was also an assistant professor at NNU for multiple years. Gall led the Crusaders' men's team to a best finish in program history by placing fifth out of 17 teams at the NCAA Division II West Region Championships, narrowly missing out on a berth to the national championships by one spot. Most notably, Gall coached Ashley Puga to NCAA Division II titles in the 800 meters at both the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships in 2009. She went on to earn 2009 NCAA Division II track athlete of the year and was a finalist for NCAA Woman of the Year. A 2002 graduate of Eastern Oregon University in LaGrande, Ore., Gall earned his bachelor's in psychology and then completed his master's in elementary education in 2003 at Eastern Oregon. He received his Ph.D. in educational leadership and management from Capella University. Gall and his wife Rachel have three sons.  

Ponce de Leon was hired as the assistant coach for California Baptist University cross country and distance track prior to the 2015-16 season. Ponce de Leon joined head coach Ben Gall, looking to keep the tradition the Lancers have established the past five years in the PacWest. The Lancer men have won all five cross country championships and advanced to the NCAA Division II West Region and National Championships the past three and two years, respectively. The women have also found success at the Division II level, qualifying for back-to-back-to-back West Region appearances and sending one individual onto the NCAA Division II Championship meet in 2014 before qualifying as a team in 2015. CBU's women also won three PacWest Championships, including consecutive titles in 2014 and 2015. After spending two seasons at NCAA Division I Butler, Ponce de Leon brings invaluable experience at the recruiting and elite running levels. He also spent time at Arizona State, where the Sun Devils remained near the top of the NCAA ranks, including a fourth-place finish at the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championship.  A 2006 graduate of Long Beach State, Ponce de Leon joined Arizona State's staff after a highly-successful, two-year stint as Assistant Distance Coach at Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) in Walnut, Calif. In addition to coaching Mt. SAC's men's and women's distance runners, he served as the program's Recruiting and Transfer Coordinator, developing a reputation as one of the top recruiters in the California Junior College system. In his first year, he quadrupled the Mounties roster, securing the deepest and most talented recruiting class in school history. During his time at Mt. SAC, Ponce de Leon also began building one of the top meet management resumes in the country.  He played an integral role in the hosting of the largest high school cross country meet in the United States, the Mt. SAC Invitational, as well as one of the nation's premier track meets, the Mt. SAC Relays.