Pioneers Run in SF State Gator Invitational

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.- The Pioneers men's and women's cross country teams headed to the fields of Golden Gate Park, San Francisco to participate in the San Francisco State Gator Invitational at Speedway Meadows. In what would be one of the bigger races of their season, both Pioneer teams were able to gain valuable experience.

The Pioneers men's team was lead by the familiar faces of freshman, Eric Daniels (FR/Placerville, CA) and sophomore, Kyle Bullington (SO/Fresno, CA), who lead the Pioneers with respective times of 31.27 and 32.21. Shortly after, at 35.11 and 42.39 Junior, Micah Spegman (JR/Tucson, AZ) and Freshman, Dalton Williams (FR/Calistoga, CA) crossed the finished line. Due to injury of their fifth man, the Pioneer Men were unable to field a team for this event, and no team score was earned.

"We have a young men's team and I'm encouraged by what our team has to offer and what we can build from in the future" said coach Dan Muhic. "They showed their passion and determination in a very fast race."

The women participated in a 6k race with the same finishing line-up as their last match, the women Pioneers were led by Dirce Pliego with a time of 27.54. Setting a personal best and improvement over last year by 1.27, was junior, Kiren Moore (JR/Mariposa, CA). Coming in tight together were the other scoring teammates; Elise Moore, Kyra Baker (SO/San Diego, CA), Erika Thalman (JR/Jamestown, CA ), Fatima Sosa (SO/Angwin, CA), and our featured athlete Gabrielle Dennis (SR/Cooranbong, New South Wales), with respective times of 29.41, 29.53,29.57, 30.32, and 30.50. Finishing strong were Linda Duncan (FR/Angwin, CA) 33.24, Daisy Alcantar (FR/Lindsay, CA) 33.25, and Maddie Chung 35.08, contributing to the teams overall score of 14 out of 15.

"I'm encouraged by our team's strength, competitiveness, and unity" said Coach Muhic." The women put in a huge effort in a deep field of NCAA division II teams."

There were no CalPac teams who participated in this event. The Invitational is a team favorite primarily against NCAA division II teams. Other competing NAIA teams included Menlo College and William Jessup University.

The Pioneers look forward to their next competition in Riverside, CA hosted by La Sierra University.

See full race results here: http://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Results/Meet.aspx?Meet=127317