The Cal Poly men’s cross country team won its fourth straight Big West Conference championship Saturday at the Fairbanks Memorial Cross Country Course. It was the seventh overall Big West title for the men’s team.
The No. 30 Mustangs upset No. 13 UC Santa Barbara, which placed second in the championship meet, 29-33.
Junior Phillip Reid led the Mustangs to victory by finishing first in the race with a time of 25 minutes, 45 seconds on the 8K course. Freshman Evan Anderson picked up a fourth-place finish with a time of 26:11, junior Troy Swier came in fifth with a time of 26:12 and Jameson Mora placed seventh with a time of 26:19. Rounding out the top five was freshman Joe Gatel, who came in 12th at 26:49.
Two other Mustangs had strong showings at the meet – sophomore Jeff Lease took 14th in 27:02 and senior Brian Baker came in 16th in 27:10.
Leif Anderson also ran for the Mustangs, placing 19th with a time of 27:15. Cal Poly’s Luke Llamas finished 23rd with a time of 27:25.
The Cal Poly women took fifth.
Preseason favorite UC Santa Barbara took first (26) in the meet with Long Beach State (72) and UC Irvine (75) placing second and third, respectively.
Cal Poly freshman Kimberly Donatelli had the best finish for the Mustangs, finishing in 19th with a time of 23:12 in the 6K race. Junior Rachel Valliere followed close behind, placing 20th with a time of 23:17. Freshman Alyssa Daw came in 24th at 23:38.5. Freshman Ursula Bergmosser came in 40th with a time of 24:42 and sophomore Kelsey Delagardelle rounded out the top five, finishing 44th at 24:53.
Also competing for the Mustangs was freshman Bridie McCary, who placed 47th at 25:08, sophomore Katie Vaughn coming in 57th at 26:07 and senior Megan O’Malley finishing 59th with a time of 26:34.