By Felix Oliveros
Grey skies couldn’t keep seniors Jennifer Sandoval, and Jose Piña from running strong and shining at the 17th annual Santa Clara University Bronco Invitational.
In a race that boasted over 200 elite runners, Sandoval finished first with a time of 20:17.6 in the women’s 6k invitational race.
Sandoval established her presence in the race right from the start. Working her way to the front and watching the pack she started with slowly wither away. With one runner right beside her near the finish, Sandoval turned up the pace and pulled away in the last stretch to secure her victory.
“[Before the race] my coach and I discussed, to just get in the front,” Sandoval said. “And then the second half to just push the pace and take the lead after.”
Senior Savannah Perez was the next Spartan finisher coming in at 25th. Sophomores Evelin Meza, Mikayla Akers, and Camilla Hanson followed and scored for the Spartans, helping the women secure 4th out of 26 teams.
On the men’s side, Piña took on the challenge of keeping pace with the front group of runners and placed third overall with a time of 24:07.1. An astonishing improvement from his last race, cutting down by over 18 seconds.
“It’s not my PR but I know there’s more,” Piña said. “I prepared myself for this and whether I wasn’t 100 percent physically, I prepared myself mentally and I think that’s what helped me get the third place … I’m happy but not satisfied, I want more but I’m happy with the performance.”
Sophomore Luis Chavez was the second Spartan to finish, followed by senior Edgar Bonilla, junior Evaristo Mateo, and freshman Klaus Quinonez who also contributed to the men’s 10th place performance out of 23 teams.
Next for San Jose State University Cross Country is the Mountain West Conference Championship in Utah on November 1.
Head coach Brad Wick said that he and the teams are going into Utah ready to take on possibly the best distance conference in the country according to Wick. For the women’s squad, they will look to place in the top half of the conference, while the men will look for leadership from seniors Piña and Bonilla.
Follow Felix on Twitter @Felixojthe3rd