RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The Southern Utah University men's and women's cross country teams had an impressive outing at the UC Riverside Invitational, with the women finishing sixth in a field of 18 teams and the men finishing first overall in a 22 team field.
Men's Recap
The men dominated both the Invite and the Open, finishing with only 41 points in the Invite and 60 points in the Open, surpassing the second place team by 63 points and 23 points respectively.
Nethaneel (Ban) Taylor led the way for all runners in the Open, finishing with a 24:59.6. Freshman Logan Peele finished close behind him in ninth with a 25:13.9.
Gabriel Romney and Clayton Adams also had stellar outings for the 'Birds, finishing 15th and 24th with times of 25:26.2 and 25:41.3 respectively, giving SUU four finishers in the top 25.
Camden Cox came in 27th with a time of 25:45.7, while Bailey Oswald wrapped things up for the T-Birds in 135th with a time of 27:26.2.
In the Invite, it was Travis Feeny who led for the Thunderbirds, finishing fourth with a 23:46.2. Following close behind him was Santiago Gaitan and Jacob Peterson, finishing back to back in sixth and seventh with times of 23:49.9 and 23:51.6, securing three top ten finishes for their school.
Rounding out the competition was Noah Jenkins, who came in 13th with a time of 24:06.2, Coleman Cragun with a 20th place finish and a 24:13.6. Bowen Martin finished 32nd with a 24:21.4, followed closely by Lanse Larsen in 34th with a time of 24:23.9 and Hayden Harward in 36th with a 24:25.7. Max Jones finished 84th with a time of 24:57.7 and Nathan Carlin ended in 94th with a time of 25:04.8.
Head Coach Eric Houle commented on these remarkable performances, saying: "Very impressed with how the men's team competed today. Their individual performances are among the all-time we've ever had in this program. It looks to be a very good season."
Women's Recap
Despite not competing in the Open, the women's team finished strong in the Women's Invite with a sixth place finish and 203 points, only 37 points behind Arizona and 84 points behind UC Irvine.
SUU was led by a ninth place finish from Sariah Hernandez with a time of 20:28.4. Freshmen Taylor Jorgensen and Daisy Baker also finished strong taking 27th and 40th with times of 21:13.7 and 21:29.7 respectively.
Adisen Stratton ended in 77th with a time of 22:07.8, followed closely by Quinn Hagerman in 82nd with a time of 22:09.1. Madison Patrick finished the day in 104th and a time of 22:28.4. Ellary Battle finished three spots behind with a time of 22:33.6. Alexis Patrick and Makayla Pitcher finished back to back in 140th and 141st with times of 23:19.4 and 23:21.1. Rounding the competition out for the 'Birds was Adelaide Englestead in 147th and a time of 23:34.1.
Coach Houle said of their performance: "I'm really pleased with how our young athletes competed in today's meet. Daisy and Taylor had outstanding performances.
Up Next
Both teams will be back in action on Friday, Sept. 29th when they travel to South Bend, Indiana to compete in the Notre Dame Invitational.
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