Brea, Calif - For the second consecutive season the Loyola Marymount men's and women's cross country teams swept the team races at the Mark Covert Classic at Carbon Canyon Park in Brea, Calif., on Saturday morning. The Cal State Fullerton men's team finished in second place behind the Lions, while the women finished fourth.
The Lion's men had a dominant 1-2-5-6-8-11 for 22 points led by race winner Weston Strum in 24:46 over the 8k course to outscore the Titans by 20 points. Unattached runner Dylan Knight was the open race winner with a time of 25:05.
LMU's Grace Graham-Zamudio was the overall winner in the women's 5k race in 17:45. The next two collegiate runners were LMU's Danielle Shanahan (17:53) and USC's Erica Capellino (17:54). So-Cal Elite club runner Lisa Ohberg had the best time in the women's 5k open race with a time of 18:27.
Host Fullerton was second in the men's standings with 42 points. Freshman Gilbert Solorza finished fourth among collegians 25:53 and followed by teammate Brandon Perry who finished in seventh with a time of 26:11. Nine Titan men finished in the top 20.
The Titans were fourth in the women's scoring led by 10th place collegian Lauren McIntyre in 18:56. Sophomore Emily Taylor was the next Titan finisher with a time of 19:04 finishing 13th overall.
"I thought today was a good day for the Titan cross country program," said head coach John Elders. "We made a big improvement from last year, including Brandon Perry who ran 59 seconds faster this year from last year's meet."
The men and women had multiple runners not compete today due to eligibily issues and injuries including, freshman Arianna Fuentes and top returning runner Katie Bathgate.
The 28th annual Labor Day weekend season-opening meet was renamed last year in honor of the former Titan All-American runner who won the 1970 NCAA title and helped his team win the championship the following season. Covert currently is the cross country coach at Antelope Valley College and recently ended a 45- year streak of running at least one mile a day.
"I'm pleased where the teams are at and we set a goal to take the program to the next level. The kids are working hard and their going to need to keep working, but were on the right track."
The Titans next meet will be Sept. 14 at the Fresno Invitational in Fresno, Calif. The race will be competed at Woodward Park, which has hosted multiple NCAA West Regionals.
