SAN FRANCISCO — After a one-year absence, the University
of San Francisco men's and women's cross country teams will compete
in the 37th Annual Stanford Cross Country Invitational
on Saturday, Sept. 25 at the Stanford University Golf Course.
The men's 8K race begins at 10:50 a.m. with an 11:30 a.m. start
time for the women's 6K race. Those two races are sandwiched in the
middle of a 14-race schedule that will see nearly 4,000 high school
and collegiate runners compete — making it one of the largest
cross country events in the United States.
This weekend marks the first counting weekend for the
collegiate cross country season. A total of 27 men's teams and 27
women's teams are ready to race, along with a number of unattached
runners, making the field more than 500 runners strong.
Eight of the top 15 ranked West Region women's teams will run at
the Stanford Invitational including: Stanford (1), Cal (6), UC
Davis (7), USF (8), Loyola Marymount (9), UCLA (10), Cal Poly (14)
and Long Beach State (15).
The men's race features seven of the top 15 ranked West Region
teams in: Stanford (1), UCLA (5), Cal (7), UC Davis (8), UC Santa
Barbara (12), Cal Poly (13) and Long Beach State (14). The Stanford
men's team is also currently ranked No. 1 in the nation after
returning six of its seven runners that competed at the NCAA
Nationals last season.
"It's a great opportunity to run in a quality race locally among
some of the best teams in the country," USF cross country coach
Helen Lehman-Winters said. "Most of the better teams in the Western
Regional will compete so we will get a chance to see how our men's
team and some of our individuals stack up against those teams and
athletes."
Racing for the Dons' men team is Ganbileg Bor, Will Marquardt,
Jeremy Grace, Jose Madera, Joshua Horeled, Steven Garboden, Derek
Hopkins, Colin Hopkins and Michael Barnes.
Maor Tiyouri, Alice Hobbs, Alice Baker, Chloe Treleven, Carly Holman, Sarah Pearson, Sahar Bala, Hayley Niles and Morgan Martin
are set to run for the USF women's team.
The course features plush golf course grass and rolling hills,
lined by hundreds of oak trees, with athletes running through a
series of loops.
