Cross Country Hosts Santa Clara Bronco Invitational at 8 a.m. Saturday

Santa Clara's men enter the Bronco Invitational ranked No. 12 in the west region and will take on nine regionally-ranked teams this Saturday morning.

Posted: Oct 12, 2017

NOTE: The meet start time was changed from 9 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Thursday. The event is contingent upon air quality at the meet venue, which is affected by wildfires currently burning across Northern California. Go to SantaClaraBroncos.com and check the official Twitter feed of Santa Clara athletics - @SCUBroncos - for additional updates.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara cross country will gear up for conference championship weekend as hosts of the SCU Bronco Invitational Saturday morning. The meet will begin at 8 a.m. with the men's collegiate invitational 8-kilometer race at Baylands Park in Sunnyvale, California. The women's collegiate invitational 6-kilometer race gets underway at 8:45 a.m. Men's and women's open races will be run at the same distances and start at 9:30 a.m. and 10:15 a.m., respectively.

Each invitational race features 10 regionally teams in the most recent USTFCCCA poll (Oct. 2), including Santa Clara's men at No. 12 in the west region. UCLA carries the highest national ranking on the men's side at No. 20 while San Francisco is the top-ranked women's team in the NCAA poll at No. 6.

"This is as competitive of a Bronco Invitational field as we've had," Bronco associate head coach Pete Cushman said. "It's strong up front, it's deep, and we have great representation both in and out of our region."

MEET DETAILS (Click for more information)

General Info | Entries | Live Results

Men's College Invitational 8K | 8 a.m. | 228 Total Entries | National/Regional Rankings Denoted for Division I Programs

Teams Represented: Cal Poly (11 - West), Cal State Fullerton (15 - West), Cal (RV - NCAA/7 - West), Central Arizona, Creighton, Embry-Riddle (Arizona), Fresno Pacific, Fresno State, Grand Canyon, Lamar (12 - South Central), Loyola Marymount (14 - West), Montana, Montana State (12 - Mountain), New Mexico State (13 - Mountain), Northern Colorado, Pepperdine, Portland (25 - NCAA/6 - West), Portland State, Sacramento State, Saint Mary's, San Diego, San José State, Santa Clara (12 - West), Seattle, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA (20 - NCAA/4 - West), Utah Valley (11 - Mountain)

SCU Entries: Joey Berriatua, Aaron Brumbaugh, Will Burschinger, Ben Davidson, Jack Davidson, James Konugres, Zach Litoff, Evan Misuraca, Xander Olivero, Noah Westfall

Jack Davidson is setting the pace for a Bronco cross country team off to one of its best starts in several years. The sophomore followed up his standout debut campaign by leading his team in every race, including top 10 finishes in all three September races. He is coming off a 10th-place finish at the Chile Pepper Festival 10-kilometer race (30:46.1) on Sept. 30, in which the Broncos took second place among Division I programs.

Berriatua has finished in second place among Bronco runners in all three races this season. Olivero and Westfall each scored for Santa Clara at last year's invitational race.

The team's strong performances helped the Broncos reach their highest USTFCCCA West Region ranking in program history during consecutive weeks on Sept. 25 (No. 13) and Oct. 2 (No. 12).

Coach Cushman: "The men have been racing well, and we are excited for the opportunity to run against this field. If we can continue to race the way we have been this fall — aggressively and confidently — I think we'll be able to mix it up with some teams we haven't beaten in a while. The guys are fit, and now we just need to execute that plan."

Women's College Invitational 6K | 8:45 a.m. | 235 Total Entries | National/Regional Rankings Denoted for Division I Programs

Teams Represented: Cal Poly (12 - West), Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton, Cal (RV - NCAA/7 - West), Central Arizona, Embry-Riddle (Arizona), Fresno State, Grand Canyon, Hawai'i, Lamar (7 - South Central), Loyola Marymount, Montana (11 - Mountain), Montana State (9 - Mountain), New Mexico State, Northern Colorado, Oregon State (10 - West), Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland State, Sacramento State, San Diego, San Francisco (6 - NCAA/3 - West), San José State, Saint Mary's, Santa Clara, Seattle, Southern Utah, UC Santa Barbara (13 - West), UCLA (11 - West), Utah Valley (15 - Mountain)

SCU Entries: Emma Eikelberner, Jamie Ferris, Sarah King, Ellie Kopf, Allison Martinez, Bevin McCullough, Janie Nabholz, Marisa Sanchez

Three different Broncos have led the team in its three major meets this season. Sanchez set the pace at the season-opening USF Invitational (22nd place) on Sept. 2, Nabholz topped the team at the Sundodger Invitational (42nd place) on Sept. 16 and Eikelberner (3rd place) led the Broncos to a dual victory over Saint Mary's on Sept. 22.

Sanchez and Martinez both scored for the Broncos in last year's invitational race.

Coach Cushman: "The learning curve for the women's team has been a big one, and we've continued to make big strides of improvement in practice. They're really looking forward to racing a 6k that they are familiar with. This should be a good final test prior to conference. Our spread was close against Saint Mary's and that has been a strength of this team, though I could see us getting some separation up front. I'm eager to see who is willing to take the opportunity to break out. I think we have a number of women capable of doing that."

Men's Open Race 8K | 9:30 a.m. | 299 Total Entries

Teams Represented: American River, Cal Poly, Cal State East Bay, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Monterey Bay, De Anza, Dominican, Embry-Riddle (Arizona), Fresno Pacific, Holy Names, Las Positas, Loyola Marymount, Mt. SAC, Notre Dame de Namur, Pepperdine, Saint Mary's, San Diego, San Francisco, San Francisco State, San Joaquin Delta, Santa Clara, Santa Rosa, Seattle, Simpson, Stanislaus State, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz

SCU Entries: Austin Blankenship, Ross Corey, Luke Davies, Fernando Gonzalez, Brendan Jones, Connor Lehl, Andrew Melendez, John O'Hagan, Christian Raslowsky, Brynn Sargent, Jean-Baptiste Tooley

Women's Open Race 6K | 10:15 a.m. | 231 Total Entries

Teams Represented: American River, Cal Poly, Cal State East Bay, Cal State Monterey Bay, De Anza, Dominican, Embry-Riddle (Arizona), Fresno Pacific, Holy Names, Las Positas, Loyola Marymount, Mills, Modesto, Oregon State, Pacific, Pepperdine, Saint Mary's, San Diego, San Francisco State, San Joaquin Delta, Santa Clara, Santa Rosa, Simpson, Sonoma State, Stanislaus State, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz

SCU Entries: Kalen Abe, Carolina Avelar, Julia Green, Emma McCurry, Noelani Obermeyer

MORE INFORMATION

Baylands Park Address: 999 E Caribbean Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94089

There is no charge for admission.

Parking is $6 per car and $20 per bus in the Baylands Park lot. Those attending are encouraged to park in the Baylands lot, not in a lot for any of the local businesses near the park. Parking in any lot other than the Baylands lot is at your own risk. There is no credential required for team staff members or media.

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