TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — UC San Diego Cross Country swept the Nike XC Town Twilight, capturing the women's 6K and men's 8K team victories. The Tritons were led by
Elle Marsyla and
Joseph Vargas who finished second in their races.
The field consisted of Texas Tech, Florida Gulf Coast, Indiana East, Southern Indiana, among a multitude of other strong programs. This is the first race of the season the men and women both claimed team wins.
HOW IT HAPPENED – WOMEN'S RACE
All of the Triton point-scorers in today's race finished within the top 25. Marsyla took second place only .006 seconds behind the top finisher.
Shea Elmore and Sabrina Zennetto followed her, earning seven and eight points respectively.
Dasha LeFaivre and
Michelle Huerta also finished back-to-back finishing with 11 and 12 points.
Anna Desormeau made her UC San Diego debut and finished with 15 points. Rounding out the point-scorers,
Stefania Sesock took 25th.
Also racing for the Tritons was
Meilani Castillo,
Avery Carlson,
Annie Burton,
Camille Lindsay,
Kimberly Willard, and
Kaitlyn Carmichael.
HOW IT HAPPENED – MEN'S RACE
In the men's 8k,
Joseph Vargas led the Tritons finishing second with a 24:58.8. Ryan Stanely,
Tate Meaux, and
Jeffrey Keeney also took top ten spots earning four, seven, and nine points respectively.
Bradford Stegge,
Shane Badcock, and
Marco Franco were the remaining point-scorers. Badcock and Stegge earned 12 and 13, with Franco earning 17.
Also racing for the Tritons was
Navin Kadel,
Ryan Chen,
Oliver Clippinger-Zimmermann, and
Wyatt Boling.
TRITON TIDBITS
- Marsyla finished at the top of the Tritons lineup for the third race in a row.
- The Nike XC Town Twilight course is the same host site as the 2026 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
- Desormeau and Carlson made their UC San Diego, and collegiate, debuts.
QUOTABLE
"Great evening of racing by the Tritons. Elle got into a great battle up front against the eventual winner. Behind her our women grouped up really well and claimed a nice team win; breakthrough race for
Shea Elmore," head coach Nate Garcia stated.
"The men controlled the field through the first 2k before the eventual winner broke away. Our men then controlled the chase pack and worked strong together to take a close team victory. Huge performance from
Joseph Vargas to take second, nice bounce back from Cameron Keeney, and another breakthrough effort from
Shane Badcock. Always good to get a pair of wins, even better to do it the way that our teams did today."
UP NEXT
The Tritons will have a two week break before racing back in Southern California at the Highlander Invitational, hosted by UC Riverside. The race is slated for Saturday, Oct. 17 in Riverside, Calif, beginning at 8 a.m.
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.
