XC | Dons Get Faster at Pre-Nationals Meet - University of San Francisco Athletics

Saturday, October 13

Madison, Wis.

8:45 A.M.

University of San Francisco

Pre-Nationals

Chris Olley at 26th Annual USF Invitational, 9-1-2018

Chris Olley nearly won Saturday's race, finishing just 0.4 seconds behind race-winner Rory Linkletter of BYU.

Photo by: Darren Yamashita

XC | Dons Get Faster at Pre-Nationals Meet

10/13/2018 5:08:00 PM | Cross Country

MEN'S RESULTS | WOMEN'S RESULTS

MADISON, Wis. — The San Francisco men's and women's cross country teams both made significant gains Saturday at the Pre-Nationals meet, improving their times and places on the same course they ran two weeks ago – the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course – all in advance of the West Coast Conference Championships at the end of the month.

MEN

The San Francisco men placed 10 spots higher than they did two weeks ago and defeated 14 regionally ranked teams from across the country, including six teams ranked among the top-10 in their respective regions. The Dons finished 17th in the men's 8-kilometer "White" competition, only five points behind South Bay rival San Jose State and more than 10 points better than the Midwest Region's No. 3 team Minnesota.

Chris Olley very nearly won the race while leading the Dons with a third-place individual finish. He was in the kick group with two other competitors – fellow WCC runner Rory Linkletter of BYU, and Aidan Tooker of Syracuse. Linkletter would barely beat Tooker and Olley by a step, while Tooker outleaned Olley for second place, finishing with an identical time of 23 minutes, 54.9 seconds.

Jack Rowe gave the Dons two in the top-50, posting a time of 24:31.1 for 42nd place. Daniel Maneloveg capped the Dons' top-three, running 25:06.4 for 102nd place in the 234-person race. Caleb McClain and Scott Halsted formed a strong 3-4-5 pack for the Dons, running 25:29.3 and 25:46.9, respectively. Hugh Nicklason (26:40.5) and Jacob Hernandez (27:11.9) rounded out the Dons' top-seven.

WOMEN

The San Francisco women also improved upon their placing from two weeks ago, grabbing a top-20 finish in the women's 6 km "White" competition. The Dons beat 10 other regionally ranked teams, including three ranked among the top-10 of their respective regions.

Tatjana Schulte was the Dons' leader Saturday, finishing 53rd in 21:16.4 – a 12-second improvement from Sept. 28, despite soft and muddy conditions. Alena Ulrichova (86th, 21:40.7) and Lizzie Bird (21:40.9) went back-to-back for the Dons. Saturday was Bird's debut this season for the Dons.

Megan Davies was USF's No. 4 runner, posting a time of 21:56.4. Josephine Brysting ran 22:25.2 to round out the Dons' scorers. Valerie Almanza finished in 23:29.9 as the Dons' No. 6 runner.

COMING UP

San Francisco's regular season is over, as it will now prepare over the next two weeks for the championship season. The West Coast Conference Championships will be held on Oct. 27 in Provo, Utah, hosted by BYU. Then comes the NCAA West Region Championship, being held in Sacramento, Calif., on Nov. 9.