The Men's and Women's Cross Country programs started the season with a solid performance at the Big 8 Preview Invitational hosted by Sacramento City at the course at Folsom Lake College. The race featured 7 out of the 8 programs in the Big 8 Conference and will be the same course for the Big 8 Conference Championships in late October.
The women's did not run a full squad as most of the team was not yet ready to race, however, the two athletes that did race put on a show. Olivia House started her collegiate career with a victory, running away from the field with a time of 20:39.4 over 3 miles. Sitting in third through the first mile, House made her move over the long hill climb on her way to the 2 mile marker and never looked back. Elisa Quintero Cantu had an amazing first race, putting in a near personal best time and finishing in the top 10 with a time of 22:16.9. Both House and Quintero Cantu will be joined by their teammates: Alexandra Van Holt and Alyssa Fletcher when they race again on sept 17th at the NorCal Preview meet hosted by College of the Redwoods.
The Men's team made a good showing finishing third overall. Lead by Ben Neargarder and Ben Kvamme, the Bear Cubs took a big step forward at the start of their season. Neargarder took the first part of the race easy and was sitting in 25th place through the 2 mile marker. From there he made a massive move, picking off runner after runner before he came through the finish in 9th place. Neargarder's time of 23:39 was only a taste of the talent he has, look for him to be in the top 10 of runner in Northern California this year.
The Bear Cubs will return to action on September 17th when the head up north to Eureka to race against the top runners in Northern California.
Here are the results for the Big 8 Preview race held at Folsom Lake College hosted by Sacramento City:
https://www.tfrrs.org/results/xc/20212/Big_8_Preview_Meet_
Women's Results:
- Sierra – 42
- DVC – 49
- SJD – 57
- Sacramento – 66
- SRJC – incomplete
SRJC Individual Results for 3 mile race:
- Olivia House, 1st, 20:39
- Elisa Quintero Cantu, 9th, 22:16.9