Men Place First at Bronco Invitational, Women Grab Seventh at Pre-Nats

Saturday, October 14

Charlottesville, VA / Panorama Farms

7:30 A.M.

XC23 Pre-Nationals

Women's Mid Race Team Shot, Bill Dellinger Invitational, 092223

Photo by: Alize Hartke

Men Place First at Bronco Invitational, Women Grab Seventh at Pre-Nats

10/14/2023 4:00:00 PM | Cross Country

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The Cal Poly men's cross country team won its third meet of the season Saturday capturing first at Santa Clara's Bronco Invitational, while the women secured a seventh-place finish at the XC23 Pre-Nationals meet held at Panorama Farms in Virginia.

It was the final regular season action for the Mustangs before taking part in the Big West Championships in less than two weeks.

The Mustang men, ranked No. 28 in the nation, beat out Cal by 3 points (49 to 52) to claim first at the Bronco Invitational held at Baylands Regional Park as three runners placed inside the top 10. Graduate student Davis Bove led the way, earning the individual title at the invitational by running a personal-best 8K time of 23:14.4 and crossing the line nearly six seconds before the second-place runner — San Francisco's Jacob Cann. It's the second straight meet Bove has placed first at. He grabbed the men's title at Oregon's Bill Dellinger Invitational on Sept. 22.

Junior Colton Swinth secured eighth (23:41.1) and redshirt sophomore Spencer Pickren took home ninth (23:44.6), both running personal bests. Redshirt junior Anthony Guerra grabbed 13th (23:53.3) and redshirt sophomore Michael Chambers finished 19th (24:05.9) to round out the runners that scored for the Mustangs.

Freshman Chris Caudillo (23rd, 24:09.3), and redshirt freshmen Oscar Gomez (24th, 24:11.1), Carson Smith (38th, 24:28.4), Lewis Westwood (63rd, 24:49.2), Jacob Donohue (79th, 25:08.0), and redshirt sophomore Euan Houston (108th, 25:42.4) also competed in the invitational.

The men have raced in three invitationals this fall, placing first in all three of them.

Freshman Jude DeVries also had an impressive showing while running unattached in the men's 8K open race, placing fifth (24:37.2).

At the XC23 Pre-Nationals meet, the Cal Poly women, who received votes nationally earlier this season for the first time in five years, had a strong showing, placing seventh out of 24 teams in the Blue Championship race with 301 points. The Mustangs finished ahead of eighth-place Michigan (326) and 16th-place Penn (386), who both received votes nationally in the latest USTFCCCA poll. Four of the seven teams that finished in front of the Mustangs were ranked in the latest national poll — No. 6 BYU, No. 7 Virginia, No. 17 Oregon and No. 19 Arkansas.

Redshirt junior Schuyler Gooley paced the Mustangs for the second straight meet, capturing 32nd overall with a 6K time of 20:44.7. Juniors Julia Heckey and Hana Catsimanes crossed the finish line together nearly side-by-side, securing 49th (21:00.0) and 51st (21:00.9) respectively. Junior Carissa Buchholz moved up 22 places in the final kilometer to finish 85th (21:26.1), while sophomore Tatiana Cornejo rounded out the scoring for the Mustangs, coming in 93rd (21:29.3).

Sophomore Riley Cash was close behind Cornejo, grabbing 94th (21:29.9). Redshirt junior Kaia Hoak (118th, 21:43.8), redshirt sophomore Isabel Sanchez (135th, 21:49.0) and junior Ellie Baxter (151st, 22:04.1) also competed in the Blue race for the Cal Poly women.

The Mustangs also had two freshmen compete individually in the Orange 6K race at the XC23 Pre-Nationals. Sydney Sundgren finished 37th (21:47.8), and Ashlyn Leath 115th (22:58.4).

Up next for the Mustangs is the Big West Championships on Friday, Oct. 27, which Cal Poly will host at Blacklake Golf Resort in Nipomo, Calif. The Mustangs are seeking to sweep the men's and women's conference titles for the second straight year and the seventh time in program history.