Cal Poly Cross Country officially closed its regular season on Saturday, highlighted by fifth-year Tatiana Cornejo adding another stellar performance to her 2026 season. The team split between two meets: the Arturo Barrios Invitational on Friday and the Bronco Invitational on Saturday.
On Friday, at the Watts Cross Country Course in College Station, Texas, six women and seven men competed for Cal Poly. As a team, the women placed 10th out of 46 scoring teams, and the men placed seventh out of 38 teams.
Cornejo kept up her impressive season, leading the Cal Poly women and taking fourth in the 6k with a time of 19:17.0. The time was just 0.02 seconds off her lifetime best, which she ran at her last meet three weeks ago. The Elk Grove, Calif., native has finished fourth or better in every meet she has competed in this season.
Next in line for Cal Poly was freshman Sydney Middleton, who placed 81st out of a field of over 385 runners and ran her own 6k personal best of 20:55.3. Senior Lianna Guerra also set a 6k personal best to take 91st, followed closely by junior Melisse Djomby Enyawe in 93rd. Senior Sydney Sundgren and junior Renae Searls finished 115th and 158th, respectively.
For the Cal Poly men, senior Rory Castimanes led the team, finishing 27th in his second meet of the season. Castimanes’ 23:41.8 was an 8k lifetime best, beating his previous best by 18 seconds.
Sophomore J.R. Lesher also posted an 8k lifetime best and finished 45th for the Mustangs. Senior Dheeraj Gurusamy placed 53rd, with freshman Kyle Jakary on his tail in 56th. Jakary also secured an 8k lifetime best.
To round out the men’s field, sophomore Miles Cook finished 74th, senior Ethan Miller 103rd, and junior Devin Ibarra 124th.
On Saturday, six Mustangs participated in the women’s 6k invitational race held at Baylands Regional Park. Cal Poly placed seventh out of 23 teams.
Multiple personal bests were set at the meet, led by freshmen Brenna Mannion and Isabella Ramirez, who placed 8th and 10th, respectively. Junior Ella Echsner placed 40th, freshman Addison Ewers took 66th, freshman Amber Dazey finished 102nd, and freshman Annika Mark closed it out in 142nd. Mannion, Ramirez, Ewers, and Dazey all ran 6k personal bests.
The Mustangs have about two weeks off as they prepare for the upcoming Big West Championships. The program will look for its fifth consecutive Big West sweep on Saturday, Oct. 31, at UC Riverside’s Ag/Ops Course.