SUNNYVALE, Calif.—The UC San Diego cross country program posted several strong individual performances that led to a pair of top-12 team finishes Saturday morning at Santa Clara's Bronco Invitational.
In the Invitational 8k, the Triton men placed 10th of 26 teams, while the women were 12th of 28 squads in the Invitational 6k.
HOW IT HAPPENED
On the men's side, junior
Jordan Haney (Carlsbad, Calif.) once again did a impressive job leading the squad. Behind him, UC San Diego's next four worked well together and came across the line within eight seconds of each other.
Haney ran a team-best 24:27.1 to take 46th in the 214-runner field.
Behind Haney were senior
Nicco Pompili in 60th, senior
Brett Beattie in 61st, junior
Andrew Schulz (San Diego) in 70th, and junior
Zeno Castiglioni in 74th.
The Triton men had 285 points to earn the 10th-place finish.
Chico State had 54 points to top the men's standings. Xander Olivero of BCR had a time of 23:30.4, the fastest of the day.
For the women, senior
Caitlin Billman resumed leadership duties and did a great job moving up through the race.
Isabelle Shepherd (San Diego), also a senior, stepped up as the team's crucial number five to close out its scoring, which proved to be key for the women today.
Billman ran a 21:08.7 to place 44th among 226 competitors.
Crossing the finish line after Billman were sophomore
Sylvana Northrop in 56th, junior
Azalea Segura-Mora in 59th, freshman
Emma Dunmire in 73rd, and Shepherd in 89th.
The women had 314 points for their 12th-place finish.
The University of San Francisco finished first with 74 points. USF's Ruby Smee was the top individual, crossing in 19:36.20.
The men and women also ran in Open Division races. The women placed fourth of 17, while the men were sixth of 17. Individually, Gerth was eighth of 241 runners and Faller finished 26th in the 185-competitor field.
QUOTABLE
"I'm pretty pleased with how all four groups raced today," said UC San Diego head coach Nate Garcia. "We had some big individual performances and very solid team outings. For the most part, our teams finished right about where they were seeded and beat some really talented programs. We weren't quite hitting on all cylinders today but our depth made the difference."
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About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.
