Piña Finishes Third, Spartans Fifth In Cross Country Season Opener

Sept. 1, 2018

USF Cross Country Invitational

San Francisco, Calif. - Jose Piña, who crossed the line third-place, led the San José State men's cross country team to a fifth-place finish in the 2018 season-opening USF Cross Country Invitational. The event was the 26^th annual and was contested over 8k in Golden Gate Park.

Piña, who redshirted the 2017 cross country season, finished in 24:49.4, nine seconds faster than his time last year, when he ran unattached in this race. From the starters gun, Piña ran in the leading pack and was just edged out by Garrett Corcoran (California - 24:31.2) and Chris Olley (San Francisco - 24:36.8) in the last 1,000 meters.

Charlie Pope and Huruy Zeratsion, in 17^th and 18^th place, respectively, each ran a personal best for the event. Pope crossed the line in 25:27.6 trimming nearly two and a half minutes off his time and improved 27 places from his 44^th place finish last year.

Zeratsion, who finished in 12^th place in the 2017 USF Cross Country Invitational, didn't finish as high this year, but his 25:28.5 cut more than 45 seconds off last year's time.

Luis Chavez, in his first USF Cross Country Invitational, led the race for more than 2,000 meters before finishing in 26^th place in 25:46.4. Edgar Bonilla, also competing for the first time in this particular race, ran a 25:55.7 and finished in 31^st place.

Craig Huff was the Spartans sixth finisher in 35^th place in 26:17.3 and Evaristo Mateo was 40^th in 27:03.6.

The Spartans totaled 95 points to finish in fifth place. California won the event with 37 points and was followed by Stanford (65 points), Santa Clara (68 points) and host San Francisco (84 points).

The Spartans return to action on September 29 at the Capital Cross Challenge in Sacramento, Calif.

26^th USF Cross Country Invitational
Saturday, September 1, 2018
Golden Gate Park
Men's Race - 8k

Team Results
1. California (37 pts.)
2. Stanford (65 pts.)
3. Santa Clara (68 pts.)
4. San Francisco (84 pts.)
5. San José State (95 pts.)
6. St. Mary's (177 pts.)
7. Academy of Art (193 pts.)
8. Dominican (239 pts.)

Individual Results
1. Garrett Corcoran (Cal) - 24:31.2
2. Chris Olley (USF) - 24:36.8
3. Jose Piña (SJSU) - 24:49.4
4. Ellis Newton (Cal) - 24:58.3
5. Jack Rowe - USF) - 25:02.0

San José State Finishers
3. Jose Piña - 24:49.4
17. Charlie Pope - 25:27.6
18. Huruy Zeratsion - 25:28.5
26. Luis Chavez - 25:46.4
31. Edgar Bonilla - 25:55.7
35. Craig Huff - 26:17.3
40. Evaristo Mateo - 27:03.6