The UC Santa Barbara men’s and women’s cross country squads ran at the prestigious Stanford Invitational meet on Saturday, and the Gaucho men battled to a third-place team finish while the women were seventh.
Junior Jeremy Acosta clocked a 24:25 over the 8K course, finishing 14th overall. Teammates Juan Paredes and Anthony Masci were 20th and 21st in times of 24:31 and 24:32. Overall, all seven Gaucho runners finished among the top 64.
Bhavik Kanzaria, yet another junior, was 31st with a time of 24:47. Andrew Pilavjian, a senior, was 44th in a time of 25:01. Two other UCSB runners did not score in the meet. Senior Doug Whichard clocked in at 25:08 to cruise in at 49th and Baxter Frick, a junior, ran a 25:28 to finish 64th.
The UCSB women’s team was led by senior Andrea Jacobs who ran the 6K course in 21:35. Junior Ari Selix was 42nd in a time of 21:54 while another junior, Sarah Vitug, was 45th at 21:55. Seniors Justine Diaz and Ashley Beechan finished 54th and 60th.
The Gauchos will return to action on Oct. 15. The teams will split-off with half running at the Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind., and the rest of the team running at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational in Santa Clara.
