Watch: EYEBRONCO's Coverage of the WCC Preview Meet
Watch: WCC Preview Meet Coverage in the Bronco Weekly Sports Wrap
SUNNYVALE, Calif. — At the first of three home meets from Baylands Park this fall, the Santa Clara men's and women's cross country teams took to the course Saturday morning in Sunnyvale. The Bronco men finished in second place of eight teams and the Bronco women finished in seventh place of 11 teams in the second event of the season.
"I was very pleased with our results this morning," head coach Felipe Montoro said. "Both teams took positive steps toward the postseason today."
Santa Clara's top three finishers in the men's 8k race placed in the top 10, including Kurt Ruegg (2nd place, 24:23.4), Bryan Crook (5th, 24:37.7) and Joey Berriatua (10th, 24:55.4). Ryan Greenough finished just outside the top 10 with a time of 24:57.6, good for 13th place in the 74-man race.
"Kurt ran a smart and patient race; he showed his veteran leadership out there and made a bid for the win before being outkicked by Hutchins from Cal Poly," Montoro said. "Ryan dropped his PR by a ton. Bryan and Joey performed well also."
As a team, the Broncos averaged 24:49.32 and placed five runners in the top 21. Their next test will be at the nationally-renowned Roy Griak Invitational Sept. 27.
"A lot of the guys ran great today, but we still have some things to work on as we continue progressing throughout the season," Montoro said. "The Griak meet in a few weeks will be a better gauge of just how competitive this group can be come November."
In the women's 6k, senior Kelly Ryan was the top Bronco finisher with a time of 22:19.2. Santa Clara had the opportunity to race 14 team members, including the team's second-place finisher Amia Nash (22:55.6).
"Our women, while talented, are very inexperienced competing at this level and it showed a bit," Montoro said. "We are relying a lot on Kelly this year to lead this group on race day and she did a great job."
Younger Broncos stepped up for the team as the top five rounded out with freshman Grayson Murphy (22:59.4), sophomore Kaitlyn Kuehn (23:12.8) and freshman Hannah Wood (23:18.9). Montoro said the 11-team field featured some competitive groups. The women's next test comes at the Stanford Invitational Sept. 27.
"The women's field had two teams I think can be in the top 30 nationally this year — LMU and USF — and it got out pretty fast for us," Montoro said. "I think we have four-to-six other athletes that are capable of running with Kelly and they learned a lot today about what it will take to close the gap on her in November. Overall, we had a lot of positives and have many things to build on for the remainder of the season."
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