SAN DIEGO — The UC San Diego men's and women's cross country teams both finished second on Friday at the Aztec Coastal Classic, which was hosted by San Diego State outside of Snapdragon Stadium.
 
California Baptist and the University of San Diego also competed with the Tritons and Aztecs in the season opener. Both races were won by California Baptist. The men's race was a 7k, with the women running a 5k.
 
Sylvana Northrop led the women's team with a second-place finish. The Tritons' top performer on the men's side was fellow redshirt senior Charlie Frank, who came home in eighth.
 
ON THE MEN'S SIDE
The first race of the day quickly turned into a two-team contest as California Baptist's and UC San Diego's top runners stayed together for most of the race. California Baptist pulled away on the final lap to take the meet win with 15 points.
 
Frank ran 22:18 and was followed closely by Ryan Stanley, who finished 10th. Rounding out the points for the Tritons was Nathan Garderes, Tate Meaux and Evan Hild, who placed 13th-15th. Joseph Vargas and Shane Badcock were also in the top 20, with Jeffrey Keeney coming home 22nd.
 
The Tritons finished with 50 points. San Diego was third with 84.
 
ON THE WOMEN'S SIDE
California Baptist also enjoyed a strong showing on the women's side, taking four of the top five individual spots and winning the race with 20 points. Northrop's second-place showing came in 17:42, eight seconds behind the leader.
 
Dasha LeFaivre was next to finish for the Tritons, placing sixth. Shea Elmore (11th) and Allyson Abandonato (14th) were also in the top 15. The Tritons' final point scorer was Christel Elkins, who was 24th.
 
Also running for the Tritons was Norah Dulaney (26th), Kimberly Willard (32nd), Jenna Satovsky (34th), Michelle Huerta (39th), Roxanne Ehrig (41st), Meilani Castillo (44th) and Kaitlyn Carmichael (48th).
 
The Tritons finished with 52 points. San Diego State was third with 73, followed by San Diego with 93.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Redshirt freshman Ryan Stanley and true freshman Shea Elmore both made their collegiate debuts on Friday.
• After leading the Tritons in every race last season, Sylvana Northrop has now been the Triton women's best finisher in seven-straight meets.
• Friday's meet was UC San Diego's first in the City of San Diego since making the transition to Division I in 2020.

QUOTABLE
"We are happy with how our squads opened the season," head coach Nate Garcia '00 said. "A pair of second places is a good start. In both teams we saw a lot of good foundation that we can build off of. The groups came back from summer fit and are working really well together. We are excited to add back the other third of the team in the coming weeks and continue to improve.

Sylvana on the women's side and Charlie and Ryan on the men's side both did a great job of pacing our teams today against tough competition.

Robert and the entire staff at SDSU did a great job hosting this meet and we are really grateful for the opportunity to race close to home in front of so many alumni, family and friends."
 
UP NEXT
The Tritons visit Texas in two weeks for the Texas A&M Invitational on Sept 13. The meet begins at 6:00 a.m. PT.
 
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 has begun a new era as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 24-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 39 have garnered 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 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in NCAA Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.