USF Invitational Women's ResultsSAN FRANCISCO -- The Cal State East Bay women's cross country team turned in an impressive performance in its season-opening meet on Saturday morning at the San Francisco Invitational in Golden Gate Park.
In their first race under new head coach
Tony Nicolosi, the Pioneers placed eighth overall and second among Division II programs, trailing only Academy of Art.
The squad was led by junior
Imani Heath, who finished in second place out 41 Division II runners with a 5k time of 19:10.9. She was 26th in the overall field of 107, which included athletes from Division I Cal, Santa Clara, San Jose State, USF, Cal State Northridge, and Saint Mary's.
Senior
Oddessy Tapia also ran a strong race, placing third among DII runners and 34th overall with a finishing time of 19:31.4.
Junior
Camille Hansen notched a ninth place finish among DII competitors and took 42nd overall, crossing the finish line in 19:42.7. She was followed closely by newcomers Candace Kompton (20:01.4) in 11th place and
Melissa Bell (20:28.6) in 13th.
Junior
Sarah Perrin took 15th place among DII runners with a time of 20:57.7, and former Pioneer soccer player
Kelsey Lamb (21:11.9) placed 18th in her first collegiate cross country race.
Junior
Vanessa Mares (21:51.9) finished 23rd in the DII field, and freshman
Leslie Diaz (22:09.9) took 25th to round out East Bay's performance.
Next up, the Pioneers travel down to the central valley to run in the Fresno State Invitational on Friday, Sept. 11.
