Oct. 6, 2000

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University men's and women's cross country teams will be looking to continue their successful seasons Saturday at the Long Beach Invitational, hosted by Long Beach State.

Bronco Charlie Brenneman owns the West Coast Conference's fastest 8,000-meter time this season with his 25:25 clocking at the Stanford Invitational last weekend. Brenneman, a senior from Roseville, Calif. finished second in the open division at the Stanford Invitational and has three top-10 finishes to his credit this season.

Freshman Ben Gauen and Chris Spicer, along with juniors Michael Helms and Thomas Chapman will be looking to provide the depth necessary for the SCU squad to continue to develop into a championships contender a the WCC Championships at the end of the month.

On the women's side, sophomore Jenny Smokey has been the team's leader and one of the fastest performers in the WCC this season. A native of Minden, Nev., Smokey began the season with a victory at the USD Invitational and has posted impressive finishes in each of the last two meets. Sophomore Annie Gastelum, a prep teammate of Smokey at Douglas High School in Minden, has also fared well this season, finishing as the second-best performer on the squad in each of the three meets this season.

Continuing with the youth trend, another sophomore in Kristin Love (Portland, Ore.) has been consistent this season as the number three runner on the squad, while freshman Milena Basile (Bellevue, Wash.) continues to be a key scorer for the squad.