2011 Santa Clara Bronco Invitational Women's Individual & Team Results

2011 Santa Clara Bronco Invitational Men's Individual & Team Results

Photo Gallery (images by Rob Garcia)

Sunnyvale, CA -- With the Pacific West Conference Championships just two weeks away, both ART U cross country teams put their best feet forward Saturday morning in the 2011 Bronco Invitational hosted by Santa Clara University. On a fast and flat course around Baylands Regional Park, junior Kristen Sanzari captured 27th overall to lead the women's squad to a 13th place finish while seniors Amos Maru and Daveson Marindich took 1st and 2nd to help the men achieve 2nd overall.

“Right now, we're in a good pace as a team and it was important to run this race well,” Maru said following the meet. “I felt good through the first three miles, but in the fourth I was challenged a little bit psychologically. I really tried to come back strong towards the end and the course was nice because the rolling hills helped mentally. I am excited to see that we are coming together as a team and we are looking forward to conference.”

Maru was out in front of all other competitors for the early portion of the 8k race and then found himself in a battle with two runners from LA Trade Technical Institute. In the end, the Nandi Hills, Kenya native qualified for 1st overall among members of four-year schools with a time of 24:51. Staying close to Maru and within the first wave of runners throughout, Marindich turned in a 25:19.5, effectively placing him 2nd. The next closest competitor was the top finisher from USF who crossed the line six seconds behind.

One week after a strong performance at SF State, senior Simon Mutai achieved a career best with his time of 26:03.8 on Saturday. Mutai had posted a new career record earlier this season at the UW Sundodger Invite, but on this occasion, he knocked six tenths of a second off that and took home his highest finish thus far in 2011 (10th). The Nakuru, Kenya native powered through the final stretch to the finish line and edged out a runner from first place John Hopkins in the process. Freshmen Jack Nevins and Chris Gutierrez both contributed solid times with a 26:42.4 from Nevins (his second best thus far) good for 25th and Gutierrez at 28.11.1 (55th).

“What I liked about the men's race was that all the guys had others to compete with,” head coach Charles Ryan said. “Amos and Dave battled with the guys from LA Trade Technical Institute and then Simon, Jack, and Chris each had their pockets as well. This is what we expect to see in the conference meet. And with the weather, we couldn't have run in a better location at a better time in preparation for the championships. I think assistant coach Ben DeLand has been doing a phenomenal job keeping this team inspired, focused, and above all motivated for the final meet. There's a bigger sense of confidence this time and I know that will make a huge difference.”

As a team, John Hopkins was the first place qualifier with Academy of Art not far behind. The Urban Knight five bested the University of San Francisco, host Santa Clara, and Cal State Monterey Bay among others.

“This was a good opportunity to get in a hard effort on a fast course against solid competition,” assistant coach Ben DeLand said. “For the women, I was pleased to see that Kristen ran a season best and how she was right up front for the majority of the race. For the men, the goal was for Amos and Dave to stay right with the front of the group which is something we are practicing in preparation for running in conference. Amos is a two-time champion and Dave has been right with him so we will continue to work on our strategy for the next few weeks. I thought today's races were competitive on both sides with good effort. This has been our focus and continues to be our goal for the final meet of the season.”

It was another strong performance from Sanzari who paced the Urban Knights and the entire pack for early portion of the 5k race. She hung tough and pushed hard late for a new personal record at Academy of Art. In comparison to her first race of the year, Sanzari dropped her time by over 15 seconds, earning 27th overall among qualified runners with her 19:31.3 mark. Her performance handily beat out several top competitors including those from San Jose State and PacWest opponent Dominican.

“Kristen led the way again and she has really been invaluable to this team,” Coach Ryan said. “We are very happy she could run this year with us. But the most encouraging thing was that the women ran well as a group. They ran as a unit and not just a collection of individuals.”

Adding to the ART U five was senior Stacey Toth, who crossed the line in 103rd with a time of 21:36.7, and sophomore Kylie Long, who finished 109th (21:57.4). Senior Jazmin White picked up an 116th place finish with her time of 22:26.6 while sophomore Heather Castro improved on her previous 5k time with a 23:03.9 mark (123rd).

“Personally, I thought that the women's team did a phenomenal job,” Coach Ryan said. “It was their best performance by far and it was extremely encouraging to see that all of our runners were within four minutes of one another. I've never seen that. This should help us for the conference championship race where we're looking to finish in the top three.”

The outright winner of the women's 5k race was Mari Sandri of the University of San Francisco. It was the Dons who also placed first in the team competition. ART U earned 13th overall, ousting Simpson, Dominican, and William Jessup.

The culmination of the 2011 season comes next with the PacWest Cross Country Championships on Oct. 29 in Goodyear, AZ. Last year, the ART U men placed 2nd overall and the women took 3rd. The women's 5k race starts off the morning at 8:00 AM followed by the men's 8k at 8:45 AM.