Cross Country Closes out Fall at NCAA West Region Championships

Cross Country/Track & Field

Posted: Nov 14, 2014

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STANFORD, Calif. — Santa Clara cross country closed out its fall season at the NCAA West Region Championships Friday at Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, Calif. As a team, the Bronco men finished their 10k race in 17^th place and the Bronco women finished their 6k race in 31^st place.

"I am very proud of both teams' efforts today. We did not get the results we wanted, but not for lack of effort," head coach Felipe Montoro said.

Two Santa Clara men's runners cracked the top 100 of their individual fields — redshirt junior Bryan Crook posted the fastest Bronco time at 30:47 to finish in 65^th place and senior Kurt Ruegg came in 76^th place by spanning the 10 kilometers in 31:03. On the women's side, freshman Grayson Murphy led the way once more for Santa Clara with a team-best 22:33.

"Unfortunately, we had a few key athletes from both squads not at 100 percent today, which definitely affected our team scores," Montoro said. "We will continue to work toward being one of the teams competing in the top of the region. The bigger picture is that both teams made a lot of progress this season and we are happy with that."

Women's 6k Results

Grayson Murphy 22:33

Kelly Ryan 22:48

Amia Nash 23:39

Elsa Valenzuela 23:44

Kaitlyn Kuehn 24:27

Allison Maio 24:34

Hannah Wood 25:37

Coach Montoro: "The women, particularly the four who had never competed at the regional level before, gained valuable experience. Graysee Murphy has improved so much and is a real bright spot moving forward for us."

Men's 10k Results

Bryan Crook 30:47

Kurt Ruegg 31:03

Adrian Hinojosa 31:34

Peter Stephens 32:09

Noah Westfall 32:22

Sean Roe 32:34

Joey Berriatua 32:44

Coach Montoro: "Our men dealt with a great deal of setbacks during the second half of the season, and I am extremely proud of how they competed in spite of those challenges. This was one of the most focused and hard-working teams the men's program has ever had, and it was a real pleasure to be around all of them."

Looking Ahead

With the fall season concluded, the Broncos will switch gears from cross country to track heading into next spring.

"We can now shift our focus to recovery and then on to the spring track season," Montoro said. "I expect big things from quite a few individuals this spring."