Results: Women | Men
HAYWARD, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay men's and women's cross country teams each turned in strong performances to defeat Holy Names in Saturday's season-opening dual meet at
Garin Regional Park.
The Pioneer women
earned an 18-41 victory and had the top four finishers in the 5k race, led by individual champion
Imani Heath. The men's team topped the Hawks by a score of 25-37 as
Will Weekes led the way with a first-place effort.
Heath dominated the rest of the field, winning by more than a minute-and-a-half with a 5k time of 18:51.
Celina Vera (20:22),
Camille Hansen (20:34), and reigning CCAA Freshman of the Year
Sarah Perrin (20:40) rounded out the top four. Sophomore
Vanessa Mares placed eighth with a time of 22:06.
The Pioneers had several newcomers running their first collegiate race.
Cynia Sapp took ninth place in 22:57, and
Ravyn Miller was right behind her in 10th (23:30).
Samira Foy placed 13th with a time of 24:31, and
Talia Cox rounded out East Bay's morning with a 14th place finish in 24:38.
"The women competed really well today, and Imani ran an impressive first race," said head coach
Ralph Jones. "Her summer training is really benefiting her early, and we are looking forward to our others runners moving closer to her as the season progresses. We managed our gaps pretty well, but there was too much space between our No. 1 and 2. Getting stronger and healthy is going to be the key to our women having a good season, as we were missing a few of our top runners due to injuries."
On the men's side, Weekes claimed a 10-second victory over HNU's top runner and finished his 5k in 16:37. The team also saw impressive first races from a trio of newcomers, as
Zach Kanlong (16:51),
Adam Gardere (16:57), and
David Caballero (17:09) placed fourth, fifth, and seventh, respectively.
Irvin Parada was right behind Caballero in eighth place, finishing in 17:14. He was followed by
Daniel Damian in ninth (17:18),
Latee Piggee in 10th (17:26), and
Orlando Ramirez (18:11) in 11th.
Leo Theus III notched a 13th place finish with his time of 18:31.
"Today's race gave us an opportunity to see our new team members run against outside competition," Jones added, "and I was very pleased with the way our freshmen guys competed. Weekes ran his first cross country race in over a year after sitting out last season, and he picked up right where he left off.
"Although we won the meet, we still have a lot of work to do to be competitive in the CCAA. We race in two weeks against two really good teams, and if we want to show well there, we have to take advantage of our training in the next week and a half. It's time to get back to work and get better."
The Pioneers are back in action on Saturday, Sept. 18 at 10 a.m. when they take on San Francisco State and Academy of Art at Golden Gate Park.
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