Saturday

The cross country teams competed at the Highlander Invitational hosted by the University of California Riverside on Saturday in Riverside, CA.  The meet, which consisted of NCAA D1, NCAA D2, NAIA, and JUCO Programs, was the fifth meet for both the men and women teams.  

The University of Arizona (NCAA D1) won the meet on the men's side while Arizona Christian University (NAIA) took top honors for the women. 

"As a team I wanted to come back to California one last time before championship season starts"  Stated Head Coach Jon Harmon. "We gave our athletes one last opportunity to achieve personal bests and compete against some of the universities in the southwest."

For the third meed in a row, Joel Barros led the CAC men. Joel toured the 8km race in 24:24.6 which was good enough to claim 34th overall and run a new personal best.  Joel's time places him as the sixth fastest time on the UCR Course among CAC athletes all-time.  "The men's team ran the best 8k average all season today." Stated Harmon "Only two other teams in the NJCAA have had a better 5 men average, but none of that matters once the gun goes off at nationals."  

Rounding out placing for the Vaquero's were:

Jayden Smith 24:30 (45th Overall) a new personal best and 8th best time run all-time among CAC athletes on the UCR Course.

Carson Wetzel 24:35 (51st Overall) a new personal best and 9th best time run all-time among CAC athletes on the UCR Course.

Gabrial Escanuela 25:11 (88th Overall) and a new personal best.

Fausto Pianciola 25:35 (118th Overall).

Sandile Pule 25:38 (123rd Overall) and a new personal best.

Emmanuel Simiyu 25:56 (146th Overall) and a new personal best.

Micah Peynando 27:11 (220th Overall).

Max Lopez 27:11 (221st Overall).

Justin Escanuela 27:51 (241st Overall).

The Men Placed 10th overall out of 25 Teams, a total of 285 athletes competed. The Vaqueros had a 24:52 team average from 1-5 and a 1:11 second spread.