The University of Redlands men's and women's cross country teams continued their successful season with excellent performances at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational on Saturday morning. Between the two teams, the Maroon and Gray represented three spots in the top 10 of the individual finishers.
From the men's side, the team excelled with a third-place team result off a score of 93 and an average time of 26:55 in the 8k event. Headlining the Bulldogs, senior Joseph Esparza (Arcata, CA) led the team for the first time this season with a strong fourth-place performance. His impressive time of 25:57.0 was one second faster than what he ran two weeks ago at the Coyote Challenge.
Sophomore Tucker Cargile (Denver, CO) followed close behind in sixth place with a speedy time of 26:14.1. Senior Benjamin Casey (Highland Park, IL) crossed the line in 26.56.2, which was his fastest time this season and placed him in 20th place. Also running a season-best effort, first-year Miguel Fausto (Whittier, CA) stopped the clock at 27:44.9 for 33rd, while sophomore Matthew Casey (Highland Park, IL) finished right on his hip in 34th with a time of 27:47.1.
The women were just as impressive by taking fifth place with 142 points and an average time of 23:50 in their 6k run. Starring in the race, junior Maria Ramirez (Orange, CA) continued to pace the Maroon and Gray with another second-place showing in 22:03.3. Her time was only 4.6 seconds behind the first-place runner.
Senior Ellie Ramsey (Waterbury, VT) and first-year Isabella Glenn (Seattle, WA) ran well together by taking 21st and 23rd place, respectively. Ramsey stopped the clock in 23:41.5, while Glenn cruised in close behind with a mark of 23:44.3. Both pushed themselves to reach new season-best times.
The meet featured eight of the nine Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) teams. The men only trailed Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in first, while the women finished behind Pomona-Pitzer and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges.
Both teams are back on the course on Saturday, October 13, at the UC Riverside Highlander Invite at 8 a.m.