COLUMBIA, Mo. – Traveling to the NCAA West Championship racecourse, the UC San Diego cross country teams each topped two regionally ranked squads to finish 16th on the women's side and 23rd on the men's side.
ON THE WOMEN'S SIDE
Racing against some of the nation's best programs,
Sylvana Northrop led the Tritons for the third consecutive race. The senior was a short minute behind first place (19:50.1) and finished 45th (20:59.4) in a field of 330 runners.
Adding their support, junior-transfer
Christel Elkins with a time of 21:45.5 and senior
Kelsie Yamano finished at 21:55.9. The top eight runners for the gold and blue combined for a 16th place team finish and topped regionally ranked No. 13 UCLA and No. 15 South Dakota.
ON THE MEN'S SIDE
20 ranked teams raced today and represented 7 of the nation's 9 regions on the men's side as the Triton men battled for a 23rd place team finish.
Jordan Haney led the squad taking 89th with a time of 24:32.5 – there was only a 1:25 difference between Haney and first place.
Charlie Frank and
Zeno Castiglioni supported his teammate with a time of 24:36.7 and a time of 24:57.3. The top eight runners for the gold and blue topped regionally ranked No. 14 Abilene Christian and No. 13 Baylor.
QUOTABLE
Head coach Nate Garcia was happy with the field of competition and how great the racing conditions were at the course.
"On the men's side we made some nice steps forward from last time out, but we made a couple steps back as well, so we still aren't quite where we want to be," he added. "The pieces are there; in the coming races we will focus on putting them together on the same day. Jordan and Charlie worked well together throughout the race."
Commenting on the women's performance, "we had another strong day. Starting out conservatively our women pushed their way through the field improving 134 points from the 1k mark to the finish." He added, "Sylvana moved very well through the field and was a crucial front runner for us. Less than thirty seconds from number two to number six made a huge difference for our women."
TRITON TIDBITS
- Sylvana Northrop took the highest Triton finish at 45th place.
- Jordan Haney took the men's highest finish at 89th place.
- The Triton women topped regionally ranked No. 13 UCLA and No. 15 South Dakota.
- The Triton men topped regionally ranked No. 14 Abilene Christian and No. 13 Baylor.
UP NEXT
The Tritons will reunite to compete at the Highlander Invitational hosted by UC Riverside on Oct. 19 in Riverside, Calif.
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.
