Sept. 30, 2006

Quotes

STANFORD, Calif. - Santa Clara wrapped up a busy weekend of racing up at the Stanford Invitational on Saturday afternoon. Santa Clara was represented in four of the five collegiate races, and turned in some fantastic performances as the Broncos continue their preparation for the Santa Clara Invitational and the WCC Championships later this month.

The first race of the afternoon was the women's 5k, an individual, non-scoring race. Three of the five Broncos in the race placed in the top ten, including Danielle Miller (3rd, 19:24), Aly Erickson-Wayman (5th, 19:38), and Adrianne Beach (9th, 19:48). Rounding out the Santa Clara contingent was Shanthi Blanchard, who finished 14th at 20:03, and Becky Costigan, who finished 26th at 20:41.

The second race of the afternoon was the women's 4k, which featured freshman Katie Wallace, and Alyssa Gagliani. The two finished dead even at 16:45 in 53rd and 54th places, respectively.

Next was the women's 6k, in which Santa Clara did not have any participants. However, it was the second climax of an emotional day for Danielle Miller. Miller, in her first season with Santa Clara since transferring from Long Beach State, was in her first meet as a Bronco, which also featured her former Alma Mater. During the 6k race, Miller was seen all over the race course with her camera, cheering on all of her friends who were running for Long Beach State in what was their only women's race.

Following the women's competitions, the men participated in 4k and 8k races. In the 4k, sophomores Ben Snyder (31st, 13:37), Jay Cadwell (30th, 13:57) and Vinod Kamath (42nd, 14:12) all turned in top-50 finishes. In the 8k, the men were led by sophomore Daniel Smith, who had placed 2nd in last week's Holy Names Invitational. In Saturday's competition, Smith (109th) was the only Bronco to come in under 26 minutes (25:56), followed by Andy Backus (151st, 26:53), Nick Arcelona (175th, 27:36), and John Laughlin (183rd, 28:00).

It was an interesting race for freshman Andy Backus, who was forced to run most of the race with only one shoe one after having his foot stepped on by a Stanford runner near the start of the race. Backus stayed the course, however, and turned in his fastest 8k time of the season.

Santa Clara will enjoy a week off and return to the race course on Saturday, October 14th for the Santa Clara Invitational from Baylands Park in Sunnyvale, Calif.