Stanford, Calif. – The UCSB men placed seventh and the UCSB women placed 22nd at the NCAA West Regional Cross Country Championship on Friday. Both of the Gaucho squads saw their running orders shuffled from how they finished two weeks ago at the Big West Conference meet.
For the first time in two seasons the Gauchos put a new runner in their No. 1 position. Leading the way for the men, Anthony Ortolan placed 23rd overall while Sarah Schreck stepped into the lead role for the first time in her career, carrying the women’s team with a 99th place showing.
Both the men’s 10,000m and the women’s 6,000m team titles were won by the University of Oregon.
Maxim Korolev won the men’s individual title in 29:33.5 and Shelby Houlihan won the women’s title in 19:31.6.
The UCSB men bettered their USTFCCCA West Regional ranking of ninth with their seventh place finish on Friday. Coming off their first Big West team title since 2001, the UCSB men put together another solid team performance. While the Gauchos didn’t break into the top-five as a team, they once again executed a strong race plan, finishing their 1-5 runners within 29 seconds. At the Big West cross country meet their spread was 45 seconds. The Gauchos swapped finish positions from their Big West placings at the NCAA Regional, likely due to the extra 2,000m of race distance up from the 8,000m contested at the Big West. Anthony Ortolan took the No. 1 spot for the Gauchos, swapping order with teammate Bryan Guijarro. Bryce Rausa found himself in the No. 3 position for the Gauchos, overtaking consistent setup man Shyan Vaziri. Vaziri ran in the No. 4 spot. Anthony Monroy held down the No. 5 spot for the Gauchos, a position he also secured at the Big West Championship.
The UCSB men will now have to wait until Monday to find out their fate as the selection committee will meet this weekend to pick the at-large selections.
The UCSB women placed 22nd overall at the NCAA West Regional and were the third Big West team in the final standings. For the first time in two seasons, Dani Moreno was not the No. 1 runner for the Gauchos. Moreno, this years fourth place Big West finisher, did not compete due to an undisclosed injury. Taking the lead for the first time in her career, Sarah Schreck took the reins for the Gauchos. Running in the No. 2 position for the first time was Tori Tsolis, a 1,500m specialist in the spring. A surprise for the Gauchos was their No. 3 runner as freshman Jenna Hinkle put together a breakthrough performance. Hinkle will be a versatile distance runner for the Gauchos this spring as she brings an impressive track resume in to UCSB. Running in the No. 4 position for the Gauchos was Maxine Goyette. Kelsey O’Connell repeated her Big West position as she secured the No. 5 and final scoring spot for the Gauchos. Senior Bailey Miller ran her final cross country race as a Gaucho, placing 180th in 23:26.
UCSB RESULTS
UCSB Men’s Placings (7th Overall – 196 pts.)
23. Anthony Ortolan 30:01
31. Bryan Guijarro 30:12
38. Bryce Rausa 30:18
49. Shyan Vaziri 30:27
55. Anthony Monroy 30:33
(88). Brad Littooy 31:14
(102). Adam Avila 31:24
UCSB Women’s Placings (22nd Overall – 643 pts.)
99. Sarah Schreck 22:08
114. Tori Tsolis 22:21
138. Jenna Hinkle 22:41
140. Maxine Goyette 22:42
152. Kelsey O’Connell 22:56
(180). Bailey Miller 23:26
(181). Sophie Smith (23:27)
