Cross Country Wraps-Up Regular Season at Bronco Invitational

Saturday, October 17

Santa Clara, Calif.

Grand Canyon

Bronco Invitational

Cross Country Wraps-Up Regular Season at Bronco Invitational

10/17/2015 1:27:00 PM | Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Competing in their final meet before the conference championships, the Grand Canyon University men's and women's cross country teams ran a strong race at the Bronco Invitational, hosted by Santa Clara. The men's squad finished 13^th in the Division I segment of the 8k event and the women's squad placed 11^th in the 6k.

"Everything went well for both the men and the women," said head coach Sara Slattery. "It was a big improvement from last year. We've had a lot of sickness on the team, but everyone still raced really well despite coming down with colds, so we got that out of the way."

Both fields featured strong competition with San Jose State winning the 8k and Loyola Marymount taking the tile in the 6k. Rounding out the top-three for the men's meet were Loyola Marymount and California. San Jose State and Sacramento State took second and third in the women's event.

Leading the men's team for the fourth time this season, redshirt-sophomore Samuel Proctor placed 46^th with a time of 25:05.3—over a minute quicker than his time last year. Junior Jose Retana finished 59^th (25:30.7) for his first time on the course.

Sophomore Chris Baker finished with a time of 25:41.1 as the third finisher for the squad at 72^nd. Senior Matthew Jackson bested his time on the course by over 20 seconds (25:42.0), placing just behind Baker at 74^th and freshman Brendan Wagler placed 76^th (25:53.9) to close out the top-five.

In the 6k, Kelsi Klotter paved the way with a 22^nd place finish and a time of 21:16.4. She clocked a time thirty seconds faster than her previous record on the course. Redshirt-junior Emily Wilkinson had a time of 21:29.0 for 32^nd. Sophomore Mariah Montoya bested her time from last season by nearly 20 seconds to place 48^th (21:47.8).

Seniors Rebekah Young and Kendra Altman earned times of 22:07.9 and 22:24.7, respectively. Young improved by nearly thirty seconds from last year, while Altman bested her personal course record by over a minute.

"It was a good chance to match-up against some of the teams that we'll be racing at conference and everybody is fired up to race in another two weeks," concluded Slattery.

The Lopes will take on the Western Athletic Conference Championships on Oct. 31^st in Orem, Utah. Due to the NCAA-mandated probation period for schools transitioning to Division I, the teams are able to compete in the conference championships, but will not be eligible for the NCAA Championship. A full recap of the event will be available at www.gculopes.com.