Men's Results
Women's Results
Muluken Baressa won the 8K, and Dallon Williams won the 5K as Cougar cross-country posted a huge season-opening effort at UC Irvine.
As a team, the Cougar women finished an extremely-impressive 3rd at the NCAA Event, while the men took 5th.
For Williams, the win supports the work ethic and drive that Coach Steve Scott has been raving about this Fall. An All-American in Cross-Country and National Champion in track & field, Williams is on a mission to improve on last year's sixth place finish at the National Championships. She got off to a great start on Saturday, running 17:21 to win the event by 5 seconds.
Not far behind in the 5K was Cady Villarreal. A breakout performer this spring in track & field, Villarreal proved she will be a force as a cross-country runner this fall. She ran 17:41 to finish 4th.
Junior Jessica Sandoval would make it an amazing three Cougar runners to break 18 minutes. Sandoval took 9th place with a time of 17:56.
All three runners not only finished in the top-10 at this event, but they have a very very good chance of earning All-American status at Nationals.
The Cougars' next three runners all finished within a couple seconds of each other. Sin Carrano, Lindsey McKown, and Kelly Thompson finished 59th, 60th, and 61st with times of 19:10, 19:11, and 19:12, respectively. Melissa Olmos rounded out the women's team with a time of 19:30.
For the men's team, the 2009 season debut was just about as impressive. Running in his first-ever meet in Cougar Blue, Baressa, a transfer from Mesa College, defeated the NCAA-heavy field in the 8K with a time of 25:06. That time alone makes him the #5 top performer in Cougar cross-country's 10-year history, and he's still got the whole season ahead of him.
Next on the team was Dave Edwards, who finished in 38th place with a time of 26:11. Pat Fitzgerald finished 55th with a time of 26:34, and Bernardo Bahena and Chris Strasheim were close behind in 58th and 59th, running 26:41 and 26:42, respectively. Rounding out the top-5 was Chris Capeau, who ran 27:32. Also competing for the Cougars were Miguel Vega (28:21) and Jordan Brooks (28:37).
It's an outstanding start to what should be a big season for Coach Steve Scott's cross-country program. The #6-ranked teams will be in action next week at UC Riverside.
