2010 Santa Clara Bronco Invitational Women's Individual & Team Results
2010 Santa Clara Bronco Invitational Men's Individual & Team Results
Santa Clara, CA – With the Pacific West Conference Championships exactly three weeks away, the Academy of Art University cross country teams partook in the 2010 Bronco Invitational hosted by Santa Clara. On an overcast and eventually sunny Saturday morning at Baylands Park, the women's team placed 11th out of 16 teams with five Urban Knights earning personal bests for the season. Both squads competed on an extremely fast course as the ART U men took 19th place against many of the country's top teams.
Coming off a 6k run at the San Francisco State Invite on Oct. 8, the Academy of Art University women's cross country squad performed very well on the flat 5k course Saturday. Led by junior Cassandra Schumacher's 25th place finish and her career best time of 19:25.8, the Knights were able to beat out NCAA Division I programs such as University of San Diego and Pacific. The time for Schumacher was over 40 seconds better than her previous record set at the Mills Invitational on Sept. 18.
Another sub-20:00 mark came from freshman Kylie Long who also ran her best race of the season. The Stevenson Ranch, CA native crossed the line at 19:53.4 for 48th place among four-year runners. This mark took a full minute off her previous top time at the Hornet Jamboree on Sept. 11. Behind Long, junior captain Stacey Toth pushed for a career best of 20:33 along with her 64th individual placement. Toth continues to make strides towards a strong finish in 2010 after this mark knocked a minute off the time she registered at the Bronco Invite last season.
The fourth ART U finisher was junior Leticia Saldaña who came through with a time of 20:45.5 in 75th place among four-year runners. In keeping with the rest of the group, Saldaña improved on her previous career best by 56 seconds. Finishing off the Knights' top five, senior Monica Anguiano placed 115th and set a new season best with a time of 24:05.2.
As a team, Academy of Art University finished 11th overall, sporting an average time of 20:56.6. In addition to topping some Division I competition, the Urban Knights turned in a collective result ahead of Cal State Monterey Bay and PacWest opponents Dominican and Notre Dame de Namur. The race was won by Eicholtz Anna from Chico State who was one of five Wildcats to place in the top 10. Chico State earned the team victory by a comfortable margin.
With juniors Amos Maru and Daveson Marindich not competing due to the flu, Academy of Art University men's cross country had senior Geoffrey Cheruiyot pace the squad. Cheruiyot posted his top time on an 8k course with a 27:28 mark in addition to his 113th individual finish among four-year runners.
Finishing second for the Knights and two spots behind Cheruiyot was junior Mark Bretan. Bretan crossed the line at 27:36.4 in 115th place overall with his second best time of the season on an 8k course. Junior Joey Villasenor topped his previous 8k personal record with Saturday's time of 27:42.3 to go with a 117nd place result.
After an injury held him out of three meets since the season opener, junior Shawn Daut returned for the Bronco Invite and finished fourth for ART U in 122nd place with a 28:36 mark. Freshman Zack Sainz was the final Knights finisher in 124th place (30:38.5).
The Academy of Art University men's team, who placed 19th overall, encountered tough competition in a race that included Chico State, Stanford, and University of San Francisco. Lamar University was the triumphant team over Chico State and UC Davis in second and third respectively. However, the Aggies' Jon Peterson placed first individually.
Academy of Art University Cross Country will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 23 when the teams travel to Western Washington. The Vikings will host the 2010 Western Washington Invitational which features the women's race at 10:30 AM and the men's at 11:15 AM.
