Sept. 26, 2015
STANFORD, Calif. -- San José State University men's cross country team finished seventh at the 8K Stanford Invitational on Saturday with 30 participating schools and 289 runners competing in the 42nd edition of the meet.
The Spartans were led by freshman Jose Piña for the first time this season with a time of 24:34.4, placing him 34th overall. In both the previous meets of the season, Piña was the second finisher on the squad before breaking through today.
"Jose ran exceptionally well. He put himself in a good position. He just keeps getting better and better," said Spartans cross country coach Brad Wick.
Senior Ben Branagh finished 12 seconds behind Piña at 24.46.4 placing him 48th. Branagh's time was a 43.6 second improvement from last year's Stanford Invitational meet where he finished in 141st place.
Sophomore Josue Gonzalez was the third San José State finisher, crossing the finish line at 24:52.0. It was the first time Gonzalez cracked the top-three finish among the Spartans this season.
The fourth Spartan finisher was senior Jannik Ernst (58th, 24:54.8), who ran two seconds faster than at last year's meet. Rounding out the scoring was first year Spartan Raul Rodarte at 25:02.7 (66th).
"Raul was a really solid fifth man for us as he started strong and maintained his place," said Wick.
The 28 second spread between the Spartan leader Piña and fifth scorer Rodarte was within the target range that Wick had in mind as the team continues to solidify its depth in hopes of peaking during the year end conference and regional meets.
Sophomores Craig Huff and Huruy Zeratsion finished 118th and 119th, respectively with times of 25:40.3 and 25.40.5.
Wick was pleased with his squad's performance who finished in fourth place out of 14 Division I schools. "The team ran to the potential of where they are at right now as they ran a really solid race."
Stanford's Sean McGorty won the race with a time of 23:07.0 leading the Cardinal men's team to a first place finish.
The Spartans will have their next race in two weeks on Friday, October 9 at the San Francisco State Invitational.
Stanford Invitational Men's Cross Country 8K Run Stanford Golf Course, Stanford, Calif. September 26, 2015 | ||
TEAM RESULTS | TOTAL SCORE | |
1. Stanford | 63 | |
2. Chico State | 68 | |
3. Cal Poly | 100 | |
4. Cal Poly Pomona | 132 | |
5. UC Davis | 173 | |
6. Baylor | 231* Tiebreaker: 1st displacer score is lower than San José State's. | |
7. San José State | 231* | |
8. Simon Fraser | 271 | |
9. Claremont-Mudd | 299 | |
10. UC Irvine | 317 | |
11. Southern Oregon | 342 | |
12. North Dakota State | 343 | |
13. UC Riverside | 359 | |
14. Fresno State | 368 | |
15. Mt. SAC | 384 | |
16. San Bernardino | 441 | |
17. Azusa Pacific | 459 | |
18. Academy of Art | 499 | |
19. Sacramento State | 508 | |
20. Davis XC&T Club | 565 | |
21. Fresno Pacific | 614 | |
22. Cal State Northridge | 622 | |
23. Whittier | 644 | |
24. UC Merced | 674 | |
25. Central Washington | 748 | |
26. Cal St. Stanislaus | 761 | |
27. Alaska Fairbanks | 787 | |
28. La Verne | 856 | |
29. Holy Names | 864 | |
30. Cal State East Bay | 894 | |
TOP INDIVIDUALS | SCHOOL | TIME |
1. Sean McGorty | Stanford | 23:07.0 |
2. Grant Fisher | Unattached | 23:33.9 |
3. William Reyes | Chico State | 23:36.7 |
4. Valentin Pepiot | Academy of Art | 23:53.2 |
5. Mark Huizar | Cal Poly | 23:56.7 |
SAN JOSÉ STATE FINISHERS | TIME | |
34. Jose Piña | 24:34.4 | |
48. Ben Branagh | 24:46.4 | |
55. Josue Gonzalez | 24:52.0 | |
58. Jannik Ernst | 24:54.8 | |
66. Raul Rodarte | 25:02.7 | |
(118.) Craig Huff | 25:40.3 | |
(119.) Huruy Zeratsion | 25:40.5 | |