TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Santa Clara men's cross country came in 22nd at Pre-Nationals held at Florida State on Friday morning. The Broncos finished ahead of Power 5 schools Tennessee, UCLA, Florida, Arizona State, Ohia State, Georgia, Auburn, and Illinois.
"Overall, I'm pleased with the results," head coach Felipe Montoro said. "We had some adversity out there with some of our key guys, but we were able to rally as a team for a very respectable finish in such a competitive field. It was another step in the right direction for our program as we build toward being a factor on the national stage. All the pieces are there, now we need to put them together at WCCs and Regionals."
Zach Litoff was the Broncos top finisher in 48th with a time of 23:50.2. Nicholas Russell (96th, 24:14.5), Ian Twyman (200th, 24:15.7), Kyle Johnson (182nd, 24:50.8), and Drew Burns (244th, 25.24.3) also scored. Harvey Chilcott and Jorge Estrella also raced. It was a personal best for each of the scorers.
"Individually, Zach had a really good performance, as did Nicky and Ian," Montoro said. "Kyle really stepped up for the team today, and that's what SR captains do."
Northern Arizona finished first as a team with a total of 64. The Broncos scored 652. Conner Mantz of BYU was the top individual finisher with a time of 22:47.0.
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