Harry Chang
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The Cal Poly men’s and women’s cross-country teams each finished second at the Big West Cross Country Championships Saturday in Riverside, California. The UC Santa Barbara men and the UC Davis women took home first after holding on at the Ag/Ops course at UC Riverside.
Sophomore Clayton Hutchins (24:15.0) had the top finish for the Mustangs yet again, placing sixth in the men’s 8K race. Junior Luis Morales (24:19.5) and sophomore Dimitri Voytilla (24:23.8) were close behind, placing in sixth and seventh in the race.
The Gauchos’ win was their first Big West title since 2001 and was driven by junior Bryan Guijarro’s first-place time of 23:47.4. The Gauchos finished with a school-record 21 points, beating out the Mustangs’ score of 49 and UC Riverside’s score of 95.
Cal Poly’s total score was rounded out by junior Tyler Huntley (10th place, 24:28.8), sophomore Riess Haslam (18th, 24:45.0), redshirt freshman Eric Sindel (21st, 24:49.6) and sophomore Eric Hayen (22nd, 24:54.2).
On the women’s side, it was UC Riverside senior Raquel Hefflin who crossed the finish line first in the 6K race, posting a time of 20:12.6 on her home course. The top finish wasn’t enough to stop the UC Davis women, however, who finished with a total score of 36 points followed by Cal Poly’s score of 66 and UC Santa Barbara’s 86.
Sophomore Ashley Windsor notched Cal Poly’s top time, finishing in eighth place with a time of 20:53.1. Freshman Sydney Szabo (10th, 21:01.3), senior Ashley Bergstrom (11th, 21:08.6), junior Sara Van Dyke (17th, 21:37.0), freshman Melissa Eisele (20th, 21:42.0), junior Meghan Breadmore (23rd, 21:47.5) and sophomore Mary Jo Wright (24th, 21:50.5) made up the rest of the field for the Mustangs.
The Big West runners now look ahead to the NCAA West Regional Championship at Palo Alto, California, on November 14, where they will represent the conference against several other schools from the region, including those from the perennial powerhouse Pac-12 Conference.
The Cal Poly men’s team finished eighth in Regionals last year and the women’s team placed seventh.