SUNNYVALE, Calif. – Eight Bobcats turned in personal-record times as University of California, Merced cross country competed in the Bronco Invitational on Saturday morning. The meet was hosted at Baylands Regional Park by Santa Clara. UC Merced men ran in the 8k invite, while the women ran in the 6k open.
Riki Moscoso led the Bobcats with a PR time of 25:18.0, good for the fifth fastest time in program history. He placed 70th in the men's field of 186 runners.
Jorge Mandujano finished next for the Bobcats recording a time of 25:55.0. He shaved more than 40 seconds off his previous PR. Mandujano placed 106th in the field.
Kitto Gonzalez PR'd by over 30 seconds and finished 134th overall with a time of 26:29.7. Sergio Vivar Jr. (141st/26:37.7) and Steven Gonzalez (142nd/26:39.5) improved their top times by over 20 seconds while rounding out the Bobcats scoring group. Kevin Pedroza stopped the clock in 27:01 for a personal-best. Sammy Leyva crossed the finish line in a career-best time of 27:38.1
Irene Martinez led UC Merced in the women's 6k with a 32nd place finish in the field of 121. Her time of 23:51.7 is the eighth fastest 6k time at the Bronco Invitational in program history.
Brigette Trujillo crossed the finish line 43rd overall with a time of 24:14.3. Kasia Holland turned in a personal-record time of 24:36.7 for a 55th place finish. Mariah Dhillon (75th/25:40.7) and Sofia Najarro (86th/26:24.2) rounded out the Bobcats scorers.
UC Merced's men finished 17th out of 18 teams, while the women finished 8th out of 11 teams.
UC Merced will now turn all attention to its first ever CCAA Championship race on Friday, October 24 at Hooker Oak Park in Chico, Calif. The women's 6k begins at 10:00am with the men's 8k to follow at 11:00am.
