Cross Country Begins 2018 Season Saturday at USF Invitational

James Konugres helped Santa Clara place second as a team in the 2007 USF Invitational, the best finish for the Broncos at the event since 2007.

Posted: Aug 31, 2018

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara cross country competes in its first race of the 2018 season on Saturday morning. The Broncos head to San Francisco's Golden Gate Park for the 26th USF Invitational.

The women's 6-kilometer race begins at 10 a.m. and the men's 8-kilometer race gets started at 10:45 a.m. 2018 marks the third year of the 2,000-meter loop course layout, which features a combination of grass and dirt trails as well as a mix of uphill and downhill stretches. Click here to follow along with live results.

WOMEN'S LINEUP

Kalen Abe, Carolina Avelar, Cecilia Avelar, Claire Cocales, Jamie Ferris, Julia Green, Sarah King, Ellie Kopf, Bevin McCullough, Emma McCurry, Janie Nabholz, Kayla Neumann, Noelani Obermeyer, Marisa Sanchez

Associate head coach Pete Cushman: "We haven't had the depth of leadership with our upper class like we have this year. One place that really showed is how the team bonded and communicated over summer. It's a lot of individual and arduous work that requires team cohesion since they're not together. The whole group focused on the task at hand and the team came in ready to go."

MEN'S LINEUP

Austin Blankenship, Wilder Boyden, Aaron Brumbaugh, Ben Davidson, Luke Davies, James Konugres, Zach Litoff, Brennan Lagerstrom, Evan Misuraca, Aditya Mohan, John O'Hagan Xander Olivero, Christian Raslowsky

Head coach Felipe Montoro: "There's a younger feel to this year's team and we think that's a good thing. Some of the guys we graduated were faces of the program. Joey Berriatua, Noah Westfall, Will Burschinger and Andrew Melendez were major contributors for us. We're pretty good and deep on paper and excited about the potential of this group. Now we need to go out and prove it."

VIDEO | Head coach Felipe Montoro talks about the importance of summer workouts ahead of tomorrow's season-opening USF Invitational! #StampedeTogether #SCUBroncos pic.twitter.com/lOLP9iEtN6
— Santa Clara Cross Country/Track & Field (@SCUXCTF) August 31, 2018

WOMEN'S CLASS BREAKDOWN

• Seniors: 4 – Jamie Ferris, Julia Green, Bevin McCullough, Hannah Rehm

Coach Cushman: "There is a lot of great leadership in this group. Bevin is a team captain. Both Julia and Jamie are looked up to. It's always great to have senior leadership, and they'll set the tone for one of the deepest groups we've had in the last handful of years."

• Juniors: 6 – Carolina Avelar, Cecilia Avelar, Emma Eikelberner, Khiely Jackson, Noelani Obermeyer, Marisa Sanchez

Coach Cushman: "The whole junior class is in the best shape they've been in as Broncos. Marisa Sanchez and Noe Obermeyer are really talented runners. They have the ability to be scorers and some of our top performers this season.:

• Sophomores: 8 – Kalen Abe, Titilola Bolarinwa, Sarah King, Ellie Kopf, Emma McCurry, Janie Nabholz, Lucie Semone, Lacey Yahnke

Coach Cushman: "The person I've been most pleased with is Emma McCurry. She was relatively new to running out of high school. Last fall was a steep learning curve and she gained confidence in the spring. She put in a great summer and has looked great in all of our workouts thus far. Emma has a bright future in this program.

"The sophomores make up a really good group. Ellie Kopf returns after being our fastest runner in the spring. Janie Nabholz learned a lot last year and I'm excited to see if she can make a jump to the next level. We're really excited to add Lucie Semone from UCLA. Her performance at the Bronco Invitational last year would have been the best among our group."

• Freshmen: 5 – Claire Cocales, Hannah Covington, Sophia Morris, Kayla Neumann, Kaitlyn Twadell

Coach Cushman: "Hannah Covington, Claire Cocales and Kayla Neumann have high school résumés that are on par with some of our top recruits. They're balanced and talented runners. Hannah has broken the five-minute mark in the mile multiple times and is a great competitor. Claire and Kayla made big improvements as seniors in high school."

MEN'S CLASS BREAKDOWN

• Seniors: 5 – Austin Blankenship, Wilder Boyden, Aaron Brumbaugh, Evan Misuraca, John O'Hagan

Coach Montoro: "We're lucky to have solid veteran experience and upperclassmen that will contribute. Aaron Brumbaugh, Wilder Boyden and Evan Misuraca all look ready to go. Those three seniors will look to have an impactful role in terms of scoring for the team."

• Juniors: 5 – Ben Davidson, Jack Davidson, Brennan Lagerstrom, Xander Olivero, Christian Raslowsky

Coach Montoro: "Xander Olivero has been healthy in training and will be a major factor for the men. Jack Davidson is our top returner. He was a little banged up during track season, so we'll ease him back into action during the early part of this season."

• Sophomores: 8 – Daryon Baynard, Luke Davies, Brendan Jones, James Konugres, Connor Lehl, Zach Litoff, Aditya Mohan, Daniel Ziems

"Zach Litoff is looking really good and coming off of a record-breaking freshman season."

• Freshmen: 3 – Drew Burns, Jorge Estrella, Spencer Fischer

"Jorge Estrella will compete right away; he's one of the best recruits we've ever had. He's a talented and mature runner that gets better as the distances get longer. Jorge has performed at a high level for the last couple of years."

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