Sept. 21, 2002
DAVIS, Calif. - The optimism that surrounds the Santa Clara University men's and women's cross country teams continued today with positive performances from both teams at the 32nd annual Aggie Open, hosted by UC Davis.
The Bronco men finished third overall and second among the eight college teams at the meet with 80 total points, which was 58 points fewer than fourth-place UC Berkeley. The club team of Adidas Transport took five of the top 15 spots in the meet and swept the first three places to outpace second-place UC Davis by a score of 27-39.
The Santa Clara women, racing without four of their top runners, finished seventh overall and sixth among the 12 college teams in the meet. The Broncos compiled 204 points, 55 ahead of eighth-place Chico State and 56 more than Saint Mary's.
Seniors Thomas Chapman and Michael Helms paced Santa Clara in the men's race, finishing less than :01 second apart with 8,000-meter times of 25:27.20 and 25:27.90, respectively. Chapman finished ninth overall and third among collegians in the meet with Helms taking the 10th and fourth overall slots. Benjamin Gauen covered the course in a time of 26:01.80 for 20th overall and 10th among college runners. John Hinman (29th, 26:33.70) and Dominic Ricci (32nd, 26:38.90) rounded-out the Bronco scorers.
In the women's race, the Broncos competed without Kim Bates, Robin Bell, Milena Basile and Courtney Daniels in order for the foursome to continue training progress toward the championship portion of the season. In their absence, Katie Hansen was the Broncos' top finisher, covering the 5,000-meter course in 19:17.70 for 27th-place overall. Kiley Strong finished 39th in a time of 19:38.00, while Cara Payne was 49th in 19:57.90. Chrissie Moreno (64th, 20:16.10), Kasey Shemwell (75th, 20:34.50) and Erin Davis (78th, 20:39.60) rounded-out the Bronco scoring.
Santa Clara returns to action next week in the annual Stanford Invitational, scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Stanford Golf Course.
