COMPLETE RESULTS

With just two weeks until the WCC Championships in Provo, Utah, the men's and women's cross country teams faced off against top-notch talent at the 2018 Bronco Invitational. This was the Lions' final tune-up before the championship season, and a chance to assess how they stack up against conferences rivals. The Lion men were fourth overall in the meet and third among conference opponents. The women were sixth overall in the meet, but the top team among the West Coast Conference teams, which bodes well going into the Championship in two weeks.

The men's Invitational race started the day and proved to be the race of the meet as seven men were in contention for the win with just 200 meters left of the 8K distance. Seniors Koby Pederson and Jack Polerecky were about 20 meters behind the leader with a mile to go before they took a group of six men with them to the final stretch run. The two Lions left their competition in the dust to place first and second, clocking in at 23:57.1 and 23:57.2, respectively. Pederson and Polerecky become the third and fourth Lions in history to break the 24-minute barrier. 

Senior Branden Estrada finished 49th, less than two seconds away from a career best. Sophomore Joseph Garcia finished right behind Estrada in 50th place, and ran a 14-second personal best (24:47). Freshmen Zach Arias and Ethan Frisone had strong performances, both running significant PR's and cracking into the Top-15 All-Time LMU Freshman list. Arias' 25:04 on the day puts him in a tie with Weston Strum for No. 8 all-time, and Frisone's 25:19 makes him the No. 14 fastest freshman in LMU history. 

In the Open race, senior Alex Sasser had a breakout performance placing 26th in a time of 25:32. Freshman Max Smith had an astonishing 31-second career best finishing with a time of 26:36. A total of six men of the 15 men who raced had personal-best times. 

The women's Invitational race resulted in five new personal records, one runner cracked into the top-10 on the LMU all-time list, and another earned her way onto the top-10 LMU Freshman all-time list. Senior Maddi Vorgitch ran a smart race to lead the Lions, placing 10th overall and moving up to No. 8 in LMU history with a time of 20:36. Vorgitch's time was 13 seconds faster than her previous best. 

Senior Giselle Masedo, who was third for the Lions today, smashed her personal best by 20 seconds. Masedo (21:25), Kyla Danforth (21:19), and Grace Catena (21:48) each ran PRs, and Hannah Wohlenberg (21:34) was only 0.4 seconds off of her best-ever time. Catena's 21:48 makes her the 10th fastest freshman in LMU history. 

Next up for the Lions is the Titan Invitational on Friday, Oct. 19. Eight days later on Saturday, Oct. 27, the Lions will compete at the West Coast Conference Championship in Provo, Utah.