Sept. 29, 2008

On a very warm day, running against some of the nation's best cross country teams, both Santa Clara's men's and women's cross country teams finished in 14th place at the Stanford Invitational on Sat., Sept. 25. Stanford won both races. The men ran an 8K, while the women competed in a 6K. The race featured four national top 25 preseason teams including Stanford women (No. 4), Stanford men (No. 11), Cal men (No. 19) and Arkansas men (No. 22).

Santa Clara competes next weekend at the UC Davis Invitational on Sat., Oct. 4.

The Bronco men were led by Robbie Reid, who finished 57th at 26:01. Rounding out the top five were Chris Gumbs at 26:26 in 75th place, Chris Sampson in 77th place at 26:28, Stephen Koch in 95th place at 26:45 and Nhu-Nguyen Le finishing in 112th place at 27:08.

"The men's pack was much improved from our last race," said assistant coach Felipe Montoro. "Nhu-Nguyen Le had a great race stepping up to score for the team when fellow freshman Richard Zhu was unable to finish due to heat exhaustion. Chris Sampson had the best race of his season so far to finish third for the team."

The Bronco women were led by Veronica Vazquez, who finished 34th at 22:26. Rounding out the top five were Stephanie Wilson at 22:26 in 52nd place, Whitney Porter in 73rd place at 23:07, Noelle Lopez in 92nd place at 23:20 and Jennifer Clarke in 94th place at 23:21.

"The women competed well and were engaged in the race," said Santa Clara head coach Tom Service. "Whitney Porter had her best race as a Bronco and Jennifer Clarke also ran well to score for the team."