Men’s and women’s cross country preview
Event: Stanford Invitational
Where: Stanford Golf Course – Stanford, Calif.
When: Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
Who to watch: Prior to the Sundodger Invitational on Saturday, men’s team captain K.C. Cody hadn’t run a cross country race in well over a year.
He picked up right where he left off.
Cody, who redshirted last season, led the men’s team to a fourth-place finish at the Sundodger, finishing in 11th place among individuals with an 8k time of 24:29.
Did you know? When the Aggies take to the Stanford Golf Course on Saturday, they’ll do so hoping for a different outcome than they had a season ago.
The UC Davis men’s and women’s cross country teams had 11th- and 13th-place showings, respectively, at the 20-team Stanford Invitational last season.
Senior Kim Conley was the top Aggie performer, posting a time of 21:49 in the 6k to finish in 24th place. Junior Thomas Dileo led the way for the men, running the 8k in 25:00 to finish in 32nd.
Preview: With three races in the books, the Aggies are trying to figure out who they really are.
“We’re still trying to find our racing identity as a team as far as who’s going to step forward and takes some risks,” head coach Drew Wartenburg said. “That’s part of why we’re mixing it up a little. It’ll be nice to get another competitive meet under our belts.“
UC Davis will get a competitive meet in a big way when it travels to Stanford on Saturday. The Stanford Invitational field features No. 1 Oregon, as well as nationally-ranked Stanford and California.
Wartenburg feels that the women’s team has set the bar high for itself, and that Saturday is a chance to live up to such expectations.
“We’ll see a lot of strong teams this weekend,” Wartenburg said. “It’s also going to be a good opportunity to get our first look at conference teams and some top regional teams.“
The Aggies will face six Big West Conference foes at Stanford, including nationally ranked UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly.
–Adam Loberstein
