Fresno Invitational Results (PDF)
FRESNO, Calif. -- Cal State Fullerton freshman Gilbert Solorza finished fifth overall to help the men's team to a third-place finish while Emily Taylor and Katie Bathgate led the Titans' women's squad to a second-place finish to close out the 2013 Fresno Invitational on Saturday morning in Fresno, Calif.
The Cal Poly men's and women's cross country teams swept the team races. The Mustang men finished with 20 points, while Fresno State (61 points) and Fullerton (63 points) finished in second and third, respectively. Chris Frias was the overall winner in the men's race with a time of 19:15.4. Cal Poly's Ashley Bergstrom (18:09.3) and Rachel Bush (18:14.8) finished first and second amongst collegiate women to help lead the Mustang women to the team title. Cal Poly finished with 18 points, while Fullerton was second in the women's standing with 54 points.
Solorza was the first Titan runner across the line, completing the four-mile course with a time of 20:02.9. The Buena Park, Calif., native has been the first Titan finisher in the first two meets for Fullerton this season. Sophomore Donald Bernard posted the second best time of 20:32.5 to finish 15th overall (13 points).
"I have been really impressed by Gilbert so far, he is only a freshman and he has competed well," Head Coach John Elders said. "I thought the men did a good job today and we are seeing improvement in our athletes."
Junior Brandon Perry (20:33.5) and Jayson Perez (20:35.4) were bunched closely in 16th and 17th, respectively. Other Titan finishers included junior Sean Graham who was 21st with a time of 20:47.0, and freshman Daniel Ramirez in 22nd with a time of 20:53.3.
Also in the men's competition, freshman Dalton Hall placed 23rd with a time of 20:56.6 while redshirt sophomore Kevin Russell was 24th with a time of 20:57.2.
On the women's side, sophomore Emily Taylor finished in eighth with a time of 18:44.9 and junior Katie Bathgate finished right behind in ninth place with a time of 18:48.5.
"The women's team still isn't at full strength and I thought we had some great performances today, and hopefully we can put it all together in time for the Big West Conference meet when we face Cal Poly again," Elders said.
Senior Lauren McIntyre (13th, 19:22.8), redshirt sophomore Ana Valdovinos (14th, 19:23.3), junior Celinda Manzo (15th, 19:24.5), and senior Sara Taylor (16th, 19:27.7), all finished in the top 20.
The Titans will compete next weekend (Sept. 21) in the Mustang Challenge in Santa Clarita, Calif.