Sunday, October 30, 2016

Mustangs Cross Country #RaisetheCup

Mustangs Cross Country #RaisetheCup Links associated with this release:
2016 Big West Cross Country Championship Central
10/29/2016 Cal Poly men and women #RaisetheCup together for the first time since 2013.

Cal Poly returned to a familiar place at the Big West Cross Country Championships, sweeping the men's and women's titles in impressive fashion on the shores of O'ahu at the Kahuku Golf Course.

The dual championship was the first in Championship history since 2013, when the Mustangs also accomplished the feat at their home course.

The Cal Poly men claimed the title with 18 points, the fewest at the Championship since the squad put up a perfect 15 points in 2007. Second place belonged to two-time defending champion UC Santa Barbara with 53 points, while Cal State Fullerton recorded its highest finish since 1993 in third place with 83 points. Fourth went to UC Irvine with 98 points, fifth to Long Beach State with 163 points and sixth belonged to UC Davis with 165 points. Rounding out the men's standings were UC Riverside and CSUN with 169 and 202 points, respectively.

The 8K men's race was won by Cal Poly junior Clayton Hutchins in an impressive time of 24:36.1. The Mustangs swept the top three as senior Swarnjit Boyal (24:46.0) and junior Alex Heuchert (24:50.1) went 2-3. In fourth place was UC Santa Barbara senior Adam Avila (24:54.7) followed by another Mustang in freshman Justin Robison in fifth at 25:07.0. UC Irvine's Isaiah Thompson was sixth in 25:20.8 with Cal Poly freshman Chas Cook in seventh at 25:22.7. Carlos Guijarro of UCSB was eighth in 25:24.3, Cal Poly sophomore Peter Cotsirilos ninth in 25:27.3 and UCSB junior George Baier in 10th at 25:29.4.

The women's 6K race was won by the Mustangs with 27 points, the lowest winning score at the Championships since UCSB put up 26 points in 2006. Second place went to UC Davis with 72 points, while the current Gaucho squad was third with 96 points. Just one point behind them was Cal State Fullerton with 97 points, the first top four finish for the Titans since 2008. Host Hawai'i was fifth with 124 points, UC Riverside sixth with 129 points and UC Irvine seventh with 197 points. CSUN (224) and Long Beach State (246) completed the scoring on the women's side.

A year after finishing second at the Championships, Cal Poly sophomore Peyton Bilo took home the individual crown after crossing the finish line in 21:04.1. UCSB junior Jenna Hinkle was second in 21:21.5, while last year's individual champion Faith Makau of UC Riverside came in third at 21:29.1. Fourth went to a Mustang as senior Ashley Windsor completed the course in 21:37.4, a little over a second ahead teammate Molly Haar as the junior crossed in 21:38.1 Sixth place belonged to another Highlander as junior Weslie Totten finished in 21:46.2, while sophomore Camille Campos of the homestanding 'Bows was seventh in 21:50.6. Campos is the first UH runner to finish in the top 10 of the Big West Championship since Dianna Cervantes (3rd) did the same in 1995. Cal Poly freshman Cate Ratliff (8th - 21:56.4), Cal Poly sophomore Kate Izzo (9th - 22:00.9) and UC Davis senior Hannah Kiregaard (10th - 22:17.5) wrapped up the top 10 in the women's race.




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