Running in its final competition of the season, Santa Clara's men's and women's cross country teams both finished 21st Friday in the NCAA West Region Championships in Seattle, Wash.
Oregon's women, led by individual champion Jordan Hasay, won the women's title. Stanford won the men's title with Arizona's Lawi Lalang winning the men's individual title.
"Pete and I were very pleased with both team's performances," said Bronco head coach Felipe Montoro. "While ultimately we aspire to finish higher than 21st, our student-athletes ran well."
It was the final race of Kevin Oliver's career as a senior and he led the team by finishing in 84th place at 31:14. Bryan Crook was 101st at 31:32. Luca Signore finished in 123rd place as the Broncos' third runner at 32:05. Moises Vengegas (133rd, 32:21) and Ezana Tesful (139th, 32:29) rounded out the Broncos scoring. Peter Stephens was 142nd at 32:31 and Ryan Greenough was the 151st finisher at 32:48.
"The men were a lot better than at the West Coast Conference Championship, although it is hard to see that directly in the results," said Montoro. "But their approach was better, and performance was a better as well. I am excited about our chances in the coming seasons to get back in the top 15 and beyond."
The women's team was once against led by Mary Kreige, who finished in 71st place at 21:16. Kate Yanish was second for SCU in 113th place at 21:45. Emily Robinson was in third place for SCU in 124th place at 21:58. Kayla Germany (129th, 22:03) and Allie Sibole (158th, 22:28) rounded out the scoring for the Broncos. Also running for SCU were Hayley Ney (168th, 22:43) and Mary Reynolds (173rd, 22:57).
"The women in particular showed a tremendous amount of improvement," added Montoro. "Last year no women broke 22:00 for 6k all season and today our team time average was 21:54 and we return all those scorers next year. Also Mary Kriege fell at the start and was in last place and she didn't panic and was still able to run 21:15."
