Knights Claims Third at Pac-12 Cross Country Championships

Knights Claims Third at Pac-12 Cross Country Championships
Courtesy: Cal Athletics
Release: Friday 10/31/2014

Oakland, Calif. – Freshman Bethan Knights finished third overall to lead California to a seventh-place team finish in the women’s field at the 2014 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships on Friday morning, held at the Metropolitan Golf Links. The men, paced by redshirt junior Chris Walden who crossed 10th overall, also placed seventh as a squad at the conference championship meet.

A broadcast of the meet will air on the Pac-12 Networks on Monday, Nov. 3, at 6 p.m. PT.

“We wanted to present a great championship meet and, despite the rain, I thought the meet went off very well,” said Director of Track & Field/Head Cross Country Coach Tony Sandoval. “It was very competitive. Our men and women competed very well and we had two individuals that really shined.”

No. 3 Oregon claimed the women’s team title with 54 points, ahead of No. 11 Stanford (74) and No. 7 Colorado (82). The Bears placed seventh with a team total of 185.

Knights completed the 6k course in 20:17, just 13 seconds back of second-place Elise Cranny (20:04) of Stanford. Arizona State’s Shelby Houlihan won the individual crown with a mark of 19:59.

“We knew with each race [Bethan] would get better and better,” Sandoval said. “She has the competitiveness of a tiger and she certainly showed that today.”

Junior Mariel Mendoza placed 35th, crossing at 21:12, while sophomore Megan Bordes finished in 21:23 to place 45th overall. Senior Sydney Gray completed the course in 21:28, good for 54th overall, junior Xochitl Navarrette finished 60th (21:35) and rookie Nuria Tio Peig recorded a time of 21:41 to finish 65th.

On the men’s side, top-ranked Colorado captured its fourth-straight team title with 30 points, followed by No. 2 Oregon (57) and No. 9 Stanford (60). The Bears tallied 189 points to place seventh.

Walden completed the 8k field with a time of 23:57, followed by redshirt freshman Yohaness Estifanos who crossed 32nd at 24:28. Rookie John Lawson completed the course in 24:49 for a 44th-place finish, while first-year runner Cameron Tu (25:07) and redshirt freshman Trent Brendel (25:08) finished 57th and 58th, respectively.

The Golden Bears continue competition on Saturday, Nov. 8, for the Doc Adams Invitational before competing in the NCAA West Regionals in Stanford on Friday, Nov. 14.


Cal Bears Cross Country