UCSD competed against a slew of top talents at the 30th annual Stanford Cross Country Invitational on Sept. 27. UCSD outran several conference rivals, and left many Division I schools in the dust. The Triton men finished a respectable sixth among 22 teams while the Triton women placed 16th out of 26 at the invitational.
NCAA Division I champion Stanford University defended their title by winning the Men¹s Invitational University Division with 18 points, while the UCLA women narrowly bested the hosting Cardinals, 56-37. The upset from the Bruins did not prevent Stanford runner Alicia Craig from setting a new course record of 20:25.
Considering the level of elite competition offered, UCSD did well in a series of tightly packed races after resting during a week¹s break from major competition, that enabled more top runners to participate.
For the UCSD men, now ranked 10th in the NCAA Division II, top-performing senior Neil Kalra was the first Triton to finish, with a time of 25:08 that was good enough for 30th place overall. Junior Robert Eap covered the course in 25:22, taking 40th place.
Sophomore Carl Lostrom (55th, 25:45), and seniors John Morrison (64th, 25:53) and Julian Nahan (68th, 25:57) also accumulated points for UCSD, for a total of 200.
Other Tritons to run the course included freshman Steve Vargas (89th, 26:35), and seniors Richey Hansen (98th, 26:50) and Eric Nilsen (104th, 27:00).
Besides Stanford, UCSD finished behind Cal Poly Pomona, California Collegiate Athletic Association rival Chico State, Harding and UC Santa Barbara, while out-pointing conference foes UC Davis and San Francisco State. The men also defeated Division I programs UC Irvine, Long Beach State, University of Utah, Santa Clara University, Loyola Marymount and Saint Mary¹s College.
The Triton women, No. 16 in Division II, earned 440 points to overwhelm Division I schools Fresno State, New Mexico State, San Francisco State, Loyola Marymount, UNLV and Saint Mary¹s.
Freshman Tina Firouz was the first Triton to cross the finish line, coming in 61st by touring the course in 23:07. Sophomore Erin O¹Donnell (94th, 23:46), seniors Amanda Felder (98th, 23:52) and Kathy Read (104th, 24:00), and sophomore Bailey Kennedy (110th, 24:24) were point-scorers for UCSD. Senior Lillian Gardiner (126th, 24:28), junior Lindsay Stalker (130th, 24:32) and sophomore Lindsey Young (138th, 24:48) composed the remainder of the Triton runners.
Individually, Stanford¹s Ian Dobson was the first to complete the 8,000-meter course in a sensational 23:46, with Cardinal teammates following in four of the next five spots. Craig, also of Stanford, ran the 6,000-meter women¹s race in 20:25 to finish first among 187 competitors. The men¹s race featured 175 runners.
This year’s Stanford Cross Country Invitational included more than 3,000 runners representing universities and high schools from around the country. The event was held at the Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto, Calif. and is the largest cross country meet in Northern California.
The Triton cross country teams will next head to Salem, Ore. to compete at the Willamette University Invitational on Oct. 4. UCSD will then host the Triton Classic the following week, on Oct. 11 at its own North Campus Course, beginning at 8:30 a.m.
