COLUMBIA, Mo. – Traveling to Missouri for the Gans Creek Classic, UC San Diego's cross country teams both posted top 20 team finishes alongside some of the nation's top cross country programs.
The men finished in ninth with 291 points and the women finished in 14th with 341 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego ran the course today with multiple nationally and regionally ranked teams in a field of 197 men and 227 women.
Jordan Haney put together an outstanding 8K race posting a time of 24:36.0 for a 17th place finish. The senior's race today is the best Triton performance since transitioning to Division I. Following Haney was
Ian Gerth in 52nd,
Zeno Castiglioni in 71st,
Nicco Pompili in 87th, and
Evan Hild in 93rd.
The senior was the top Triton finisher on both squads and led the men's side to a ninth-place finish. The team finished ahead of the regionally ranked No. 5 Kansas.
On the women's side,
Isabelle Shepherd led the team through the 6K with a 42nd place finish and a time of 22:07.6.
Emma Dunmire ran a close race with the Triton leader finishing less than four seconds after her for a 45th place finish.
The two leaders were followed by
Jenna Satovsky in 79th,
Norah Dulaney in 97th,
Emily Richards in 100th, and
Kimberly Willard in 101st. With their 14th place finish, the Triton women top regionally ranked No. 6 Bradley.
QUOTABLE
Head coach
Nate Garcia '00 expressed how happy he was with the scholar-athletes' performances at the classic. "It was a very good day for the Tritons. Both teams outperformed our projections," he commented, "they took advantage of the opportunity presented to them and ran really well in a very different environment against some excellent teams."
Commenting on the men's side, he said, "
Jordan Haney put together an incredible race, progressing throughout and really showing what he is capable of. The men in support behind him worked well together."
Noting the women's performance, he added, "
Isabelle Shepherd and
Emma Dunmire worked well together throughout the race and our entire women's team dug deep for a strong performance."
"This was an excellent event with teams from all over the country in attendance, and the staff at Missouri put together a top-notch event," he added.
UP NEXT
Returning to southern California, the two Triton squads will compete in the Highlander Invitational hosted by UC Riverside on Oct. 14.
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.
