With two runners finishing in the top 100, the Cal Poly men’s cross country team took 23rd place with 513 points at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. on Monday afternoon.
“I thought that the team had a solid effort today,” Mustangs head coach Mark Conover said in a news release. “All in all, I think we ran a decent race.”
The Mustangs were led by junior Daniel Gonia’s 73rd-place effort, as he finished the course in 30:52.
Also in the top 100 for Cal Poly was junior Evan Anderson, who finished in 81st at 30:56.
Junior Joe Gatel finished in 103rd place, coming in 10 seconds behind Anderson.
Oregon senior Galen Rupp won the individual championship in 29:04 – 22 seconds ahead of second-place Andrew Ledwith of Iona.
The Ducks, led by Rupp, easily won the team title with a total of 93 points.
After finishing seventh in the NCAA West Regional at Stanford, Cal Poly was voted as the 30th-best team in the nation in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll.
Also scoring for Cal Poly were Troy Swier (117th, 31:14) and Carl Dargitz (139th, 31:30).
– Scott Silvey