Oct. 17, 2015
Photo Gallery
SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Spartan runners Ben Branagh, Josue Gonzalez and Jose Piña finished third, fourth and fifth individually at the 8K Santa Clara Invitational to lead San José State to a first place finish.
San José State men's team beat runner-up Loyola Marymount 61-108, giving the Spartans its first top finish at a meet since the 2010 season at the Battle of the Bay meet.
"The guys did a great job. We just came off of three weeks of hard training and were able to put in a great race. Our top three guys looked really solid. It was great to see them run as a pack upfront," said Spartans cross country coach Brad Wick as Branagh, Gonzalez and Piña finished 2.3 seconds of each other.
Jannik Ernst and Craig Huff rounded off the top-five finishers for the Spartans, finishing 24th and 47th. Huruy Zeratsion finished 58th. The spread time between Branagh and Huff, the first and fifth Spartan finisher, was 42.5 seconds, within the desired range for the third-year coach.
"We were without one of our top-seven, Raul (Rodarte), but he'll be back and Craig and Huruy both had great races to fill that gap," said Wick.
On an overcast day at Baylands Regional Park, the 8K race course was fast as expected with its hard packed dirt paths and low cut grass as every Spartan ran a season-best time.
"In cross country, you can't go off of times but overall, Jannik and Craig ran faster than last year. Also, Ben and Josue ran about the same but they were 3rd and 4th so you always run for the placement so they did a great job," the Spartans coach explained.
Santa Clara University Bronco Invitational Men's Cross Country 8K Run Baylands Regional Park, Sunnyvale, Calif. October 17, 2015 | ||
TEAM RESULTS | TOTAL SCORE | |
1. San José State | 61 | |
2. Loyola Marymount | 108 | |
3. California | 114 | |
4. St. Mary's (Callif.) | 115 | |
5. Santa Clara | 141 | |
6. Fresno State | 149 | |
7. UC Santa Barbara | 161 | |
8. Texas Tech | 163 | |
9. New Mexico State | 202 | |
10. Sacramento State | 228 | |
11. UTSA | 233 | |
12. San Diego | 297 | |
13. Grand Canyon | 327 | |
TOP INDIVIDUALS | SCHOOL | TIME |
1. Justin Marpole-Bird | Strava Tc | 23:38.6 |
2. Dusan Makevic | UTSA | 23:39.5 |
3. Ben Branagh | San José State | 24:03.9 |
San José State | 24:06.1 | |
5. Jose Piña | San José State | 24:06.2 |
SAN JOSÉ STATE FINISHERS | TIME | |
3. Ben Branagh | 24:03.9 | |
24:06.1 | ||
5. Jose Piña | 24:06.2 | |
24. Jannik Ernst | 24:29.7 | |
47. Craig Huff | 24:46.4 | |
(58.) Huruy Zeratsion | 25:03.2 | |