SUNNYVALE, Calif. – The University of California, Merced cross country teams returned to the Bronco Invitational for the third consecutive year and saw multiple Bobcats record personal-best and season-best times on Saturday at Baylands Regional Park.
The men's team placed fifth out of 18 teams in the open division, while the women took ninth place in the field of 14 scoring teams. The individual fields consisted of 269 and 167 finishers, respectively.
Sharvin Manjrekar led the Bobcats with his first top-20 finish of the season, clocking a season-best time of 25:27.1 to finish 16th overall. He is the Bobcats third different top-scorer this season, joining Alberto Alves and Jonathan Chavez.
Derrick Pickrel crossed the finish line next for the Bobcats in 26:09.9 to place 46th. Joshua Riley came in shortly after with a time of 26:13.9, good for 52nd in the field.
Alberto Alves returned to the Bobcats lineup for his first 8K of the season and finished 93rd in 26:57.8. Cole Rommelfanger crossed just over three seconds later to place 95th.
Jorge Mandujano (27:12/102nd), Alberto Guevara (27:26.6/112th), Kevin Pedroza (27:39.6/125th), and Sergio Vivar Jr. (27:49.5/135th) turned in career-bests.
Elizette Ysais highlighted the women's squad with her first top-20 finish checking in with a season-best time of 23:11.2.
Leslie Aquino registered a career-best in 24:10.9 to finish second for the Bobcats placing 48th overall.
Jaydah Aguilar finished in the top 100 with a time of 25:24.2 for 85th. Jailyn Batis made her way through the course in 26:05.3 to finish 105th, while Kasia Holland rounded out the Bobcats scorers crossing the finish line in a career-best time of 26:22.7 for 110th.
Mia Abonza ran a personal-best time of 26:46.8 for 117th.
Up next, UC Merced will race in the California Pacific Conference Championships on Monday, October 28 at Woodward Park in Fresno, Calif. The women begin the championship race at 9:30am with the men to follow at 10:30am.
