If the Hawai'i Pacific men's cross-country team learned anything over the course of its undefeated regular season it was that patience and perfection run side by side.

Senior Brandon Laan and company put that knowledge to title-winning use on Saturday, expertly navigating a deceptively difficult 8K course to take first place in the PacWest Conference Cross-Country Championships in Belmont, Calif.

The Sea Warriors posted a low score of 45, narrowly edging rival Notre Dame de Namur (47). Defending conference champion Brigham Young-Hawai'i placed third (57) followed by Hawai'i-Hilo (67) and Chaminade (135).

UH-Hilo (32) won the women's title in convincing fashion over BYUH (45) and HPU (49) on a 5K course. Chaminade placed fifth overall, one spot behind NDNU, with 126 points.

BYUH runners Golden Harper (26 minutes, 23 seconds/8K) and Amanda Whitford (18:54/5K) took top individual honors.

"Our guys stayed behind and waited patiently because we knew there was a steep hill after the first loop," said HPU head coach Christian Friis, the 1998 NCAA Division II champion. "Brandon ran a very smart, technical race and so did our other guys."

Laan, who finished in second place overall, 28 seconds behind Golden, said he made sure to avoid oxygen debt on the approach to the hill, content to sit back while others broke away early on.

"(The Hawai'i teams) have been racing each other for the past eight or nine weeks, so we know how each will race, but we weren't sure about the other schools," Laan said. "We were probably the most cautious, but we were confident that (the early leaders) would come back to us in the end."

Still, it took career efforts by senior Esben Dalgaard and sophomore Kevin Enriques to secure the victory. Dalgaard finished third overall and Enriques took 14th.

"Esben had been finishing fourth, fifth or sixth, but he had a career race and finished third," Laan said. "We all knew he was capable and this was just good timing."

As for Enriques, the University Lab School standout who joined the squad as a walk-on:

"We have to take him out to dinner," Laan said.

Friis credited the women's team's strong overall performance to first-year assistant coach Laura Aderman, a former cross-country standout at Grand Valley State.

Kelly Rogers (second overall at 19:11) led a strong Vulcan contingent that also included Kari Andrew (fourth), Alejandra Sanchez (seventh), Nina Hagemann (eighth), Ashley Benson (11th) and Malia Williams (15th).

"That course especially, if you go out fast, you'll pay for it in the end," said Vulcan head coach Jaime Guerpo. "It's a difficult course, but the girls toughed it out and came out with the win."

Guerpo's game plan called for Andrews to stay close to Whitford while Rogers bided her time, and for Sanchez, Hagemann and Benson to fend off the rest of the BYUH squad.

"At this point, I don't need to tell them what to do," Guerpo said. "I just told them that I was proud of them."

Guerpo said he was surprised by the margin of victory.

Next up is the NCAA Division II West Region Championships Saturday in Boise, Idaho.

"This was a good momentum builder," Guerpo said. "If we keep it up, I think we can finish in the top 10."

PACWEST ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS

MEN

FIRST TEAM

Golden Harper (BYUH), Brandon Laan (HPU), Esben Dalgaard (HPU), Rivers Puzey (BYUH), Javier Ceja (NDNU), Erik Estrada (NDNU), Jens Munk-Nielsen (HPU).

SECOND TEAM

Jose Alcala (NDNU), Garrett McAlister (UHH), Joseph Sybrowsky (BYUH), David Santana (NDNU), Stefano Barbis (UHH), Joshua Enos (UHH), Kevin Enriques (HPU).

WOMEN

FIRST TEAM

Amanda Whitford (BYUH), Kelly Rogers (UHH), Diana Voorhees (BYUH), Kari Andrew (UHH), Elin Soto-Thompson (HPU), Emma Palmer (HPU), Alejandra Sanchez (UHH)

SECOND TEAM

Nina Hagemann (UHH), Jennifer Torres (HPU), Hillarie Glenn (BYUH), Ashley Benson (UHH), Ashley Hughey (NDNU), Quinn Horochuk (HPU), Michelle Fong (BYUH)

CHAMINADE SURGES

There's no place like McCabe.

A mere seven days ago, the Chaminade volleyball team sat in last place with a conference record of 2-5. Four impressive home victories later, the team that was an early pick to challenge for the PacWest crown is ranked No. 3 behind surprising UH-Hilo (12-0) and defending champ BYUH (8-4).

The resurgent Silverswords thrashed Grand Canyon and Dixie State in a pair of back-to-back home matches last week.

Chaminade is riding the heady play of freshman setter Trina Alvino (151 assists in four games) and the all-around game of junior Trina Kauliakamoa (19 kills and 19 digs in the second game against Dixie State), and the precocious play of freshman Samantha Miller (16 kills and 10 assists in the first game against Dixie State).

The run catapulted the Silverswords past Dixie State, Grand Canyon, HPU and Notre Dame de Namur in the conference standings.

Chaminade had lost five of its previous six matches, all on the road.

The team continues its home stand with matches against BYUH and HPU before closing out the regular season against BYUH on the road.

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.