Results
SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Cal State East Bay junior
Imani Heath placed first among collegiate runners in the Women's 6k Open run at the 2014 Bronco Invitational, hosted by Santa Clara University at Baylands Regional Park. Heath led the Pioneer women to fourth place out of 17 teams and set a career-best 6k time.
Heath finished the course in 22:29.3, more than 20 seconds in front of the second place runner, Dominican's Julianna Mendez. She has placed either first or second in all four of Cal State East Bay's meets so far this fall. The Pioneer women's team finished ahead of 13 other squads, but behind UC Santa Cruz, University of San Diego, and Chico State, which is currently ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division II West Region.
Senior
Oddessy Tapia was East Bay's second finisher in the Women's 6k Open, placing seventh among collegiate runners in 23:15.9. Junior
Celina Vera was right on her heels, taking 10th place in 23:20.8.
Sophomore
Camille Hansen placed 38th in the collegiate field with a time of 24:20.2. She was followed by sophomore
Sarah Perrin in 61st place at 25:11.7.
Iris Martinez (26:04.8) took 69th place,
Cynia Sapp (28:01.0) finished 88th, and
Chris Cortez (30:05.4) rounded out the Pioneer women's performance in Sunnyvale by placing 103rd.
"Our ladies ran a spirited race in a field of over 200 athletes today, and we accomplished most of our objectives for the meet," said head coach
Ralph Jones. "We wanted to try to win or place amongst the top five, run our fastest times of the year, and place our top five runners in the top 30 places.
"Our first three women executed the race plan brilliantly," he continue. "Imani ran a lifetime best and continues to improve every race, and Oddessy is running well after coming back from injury. Celina ran more than a minute faster than she ran on this course last year and is becoming a consistent and dependable finisher for us. Iris, Cynia, and Chris all ran lifetime bests as well."
Cal State East Bay now has a few weeks off from competition as the teams prepare for the 2014 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) championships in San Bernardino on Nov. 8.
