Oct. 2, 2008

he Bronco cross country teams travel this weekend to Davis, Calif. and the state capitol of Oregon, Salem, to compete in two different locations on Sat., Oct. 4. The Santa Clara women's `A' team will compete at the Charles Bowles Invitational at Willamette University in Salem, Ore., and the Santa Clara men's `B' team will compete at the UC Davis Invitational in Davis, Calif.

"The men's A team won't run this weekend because we really don't want to run back-to-back weekend's this year because this season we have an extra week and taking this weekend off will be beneficial in the long run," said Bronco head coach Tom Service. "We haven't been to Willamette in four years. It is known as a very fast, flat course. If you look at the top 10 times in 5K races in Santa Clara history, they all came from two places: the Bronco Invitational in Baylands Park or the course at Willamette University."

Service said they were mildly disappointed last weekend after the Stanford Invitational.

"The course ran slow last weekend and so this week we are looking for both teams to step up," continued Service. "At Willamette we should be near the front of the pack. Our main competition will be Idaho and Boise State. It's a great opportunity for our women to run fast. We have done a lot of base work. The best speed work-out is a fast race and this is a really good preparation for the WCC Championships."

As far as the men's `B' team running, Service sees it as a good time for the bulk of the freshman class to step up.

"We are running nine or 10 guys and seven of them are freshmen," said Service. ""It's supposed to rain at both places so we will get a good test with dealing with inclement weather."

Next weekend the Bronco teams are off before hosting the Bronco Invitational the following weekend at Baylands Park in Sunnyvale, Calif. on Sat., Oct. 18. The men will run an 8K and the women will run a 5K.