Cal Poly Cross Country capped off their regular season in two different states on Saturday, Oct. 19. The men raced at the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Madison, Wisconsin, while the women dominated the field en route to a team title at the Bronco Invitational in Sunnyvale, Calif.
The women shined at Baylands Park, storming to a first-place finish behind junior Tatiana Cornejo, as she captured the individual title while six other runners finished inside the top 25.
Meanwhile, graduate student Davis Bove had an excellent day racing at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course, placing 15th among a loaded field of runners.
Women’s team dominates in Sunnyvale
The Mustang women’s top seven runners were all inside the top 25, and they finished with 45 team points—a total of 75 points in front of second-place UC Davis (120).
Cornejo paced the team and the rest of the field, capturing the women’s 6K individual title with a time of 20:14.4.
This marks the third straight meet she’s been the Mustangs’ top finisher, as she finished 27th at the Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational on Oct. 4. Last year, she capped off her excellent sophomore season with a 23rd-place finish at the NCAA West Regionals.
Behind Cornejo, senior Schuyler Gooley crossed the finish line in fifth place with a time of 20:34.9.
Following their top two finishers were senior Hana Catsimanes (13th), junior Riley Cash (16th), senior Ellie Baxter (22nd), sophomore Sydney Sundgren (23rd) and redshirt sophomore Sophia Nordenholz (24th).
The Mustangs had seven other runners racing, with three of them placing within the top 40. Freshman Renae Searls took 29th place, redshirt junior Isabel Sanchez grabbed 32nd and freshman Lianna Guerra secured 34th.
Men capture 23rd out of 32 teams in Wisconsin
Cal Poly sent eight of their top runners to the Pre-Nationals, finishing 23rd out of 32 teams in the men’s 8K ‘A’ race.
Nineteen of the top 30 teams in the country were at Saturday’s meet hosted by Wisconsin, which will also be the site of this year’s national championship race.
After receiving two votes in the week 3 USTFCCCA Coaches Poll, the team finished ahead of four nationally ranked teams, including No. 13 Washington (24th), No. 27 Florida State (31st), No. 28 Air Force (32nd) and No. 29 Texas (27th).
Bove continues to show he’s one of the top runners in the country, placing 15th with a time of 23:08.6. This is only his second official race of the year, as he broke a personal best on Oct. 4 with an 8K time of 22:56.5 at the Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational.
Behind him was sophomore Chris Caudillo, last year’s Big West Men’s Freshman of the Year, who placed 112th with a time of 24:00.8.
Redshirt freshman Rory Catsimanes, a UC San Diego transfer, was the third Mustang to cross the finish line as he placed 131st.
He was followed by senior Colton Swinth (149th), redshirt senior Anthony Guerra (176th), redshirt junior Bryce Kueker (189th) and redshirt junior Michael Chambers (208th).
Senior Aidan McCarthy did not finish the race. He finished 34th at the Sean Earl Invitational.
With the regular season in the books, Cal Poly will now set their sights on sweeping the Big West conference championship meet for the third year in a row.
The Championships will be held on Nov. 2 at the UC Riverside Agriculture Operations Cross Country Course. The men’s race will start at 8:30 a.m., and the women’s race will start at 9:15 a.m.