SACRAMENTO – The UCSB men’s and women’s cross country runners finished 3rd and 7th, respectively at the NCAA West Regional Preview in Sacramento Friday morning.
The men ran an 8K race on the Haggins Oaks Golf Complex course, followed by a 5K by the women. When the Gauchos return to the course for the West Regionals in November, the men will run a 10K and the women will participate in a 6K.
Leading the way for the UCSB men was Anthony Ortolan, their No. 1 runner so far this season. His time of 23:44 was good for 5th overall in the race, while Bryce Rausa’s time of 24:09 gave him 17th place and Andrew Farkas came in 19th with a time of 24:14. The Gauchos finished with a team score of 86, coming behind Cal Poly’s 67 and UCLA’s 54. The Bruins came into the race ranked 11th in the nation.
The top finisher for the Santa Barbara women was once again Dani Moreno, pacing the team’s score of 198 with a 16:56 run, 6th overall in Sacramento. The team had one other top-30 finisher in sophomore Maxine Goyette, who ran a 17:34 to place 30th. UCLA and Cal Poly came in 1st and 2nd on the women’s side as well, recording team scores of 77 and 78
The Gaucho cross-country runners are back in action on October 19th in Terre Haute, Indiana for Pre-Nationals.
