Fresno State Athletics
'Dogs XC travels to Stanford Invitational
9/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
By: Travis Blanshan
tblanshan@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
*Live Results/Entries
Men's 8K Course Map 
FRESNO, Calif. - Continuing a strong early-season slate, the Fresno State men's and women's cross country teams compete for the third consecutive weekend on Saturday traveling to the Stanford Invitational hosted at the Stanford Golf Course.
STANFORD INVITATIONAL - MEET INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, September 26, 2015
Time : 9:50 - Women's 6000m; 10:30 a.m. - Men's 8000m
Location : Stanford Golf Course, Stanford, California
Live Results : Will be available at http://www.rtspt.com/events/stanford/xcinvite15/
'DOGS LAST TIME OUT
The Bulldogs ran at the Sundodger Invitational last Saturday hosted by the University of Washington and came home with a pair of strong performances from junior Cooper Gill on the men's side and sophomore Mackenzie Landa on the women's side.
Gill led the men to a fourth-place overall finish as a team clocking a personal-best time in the 8K in 24:20.63 to easily surpass his previous best time of 26:55 set at the Sundodger Invitational in 2014. Landa also set a new personal-best time in the 6K finishing 10th overall in a time of 21:05.35 to take off nearly 40 seconds from her previous-best time of 21:44 ran at the 2014 Mountain West Championships.
Matt Kwiatkowski, Nathan Esparza and Efren Reyes all placed in the top 30 overall on the men's side, while Brittany Laygo and Cristal Rivera added a pair of top 40 finishes on the women's side. Laygo set a new career-best time in the 6K finishing 37th in 22:21.20 to take over 90 seconds from her previous-best time of 23:51 set at Santa Clara Bronco Invitational in 2014.
BULLDOGS AT THE 2014 STANFORD INVITATIONAL
Fresno State will compete at the Stanford Invitational for the sixth consecutive year and returns 10 student-athletes who competed at the meet in 2014. Kwiatkowski led the Bulldogs with a 37th-place finish running a season-best time of 24:34 in the 8K. Reyes, Esparza, and Uriel Cabanas also scored for the 'Dogs to help the men finish 10th. On the women's side, Landa placed 47th in the 6K race finishing with a time of 22:13. Meagan Paracholski was the 'Dogs fifth scorer in the race as she raced to a 6K season-best time of 23:36.
'DOGS COMPETING THIS WEEK
The 'Dogs will send 15 runners to Stanford to compete on Saturday with seven on the women's side and eight on the men's. Landa, Paracholski, Samson, Laygo and Rivera will be joined on the women's side by Raven Nunez and Jennifer Viramontes. The men return six runners who competed a year ago, with Kwiatkowski, Reyes, Esparza, Gill, Cabanas and Joel Gonzalez making a return and will be joined by Robert Leija and Clay Celum.
DEEP FIELD SET TO COMPETE
One of 13 Division I teams set to compete, the Bulldog men will be joined by a pair of top 30 in the latest USTFCCCA Men's Coaches Poll as host Stanford is ranked second and fellow Pac-12 team Cal is 29th. Other teams set to compete are Baylor, Cal Poly, CSUN, North Dakota State, Sacramento State, San Jose State, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara. Baylor, UCSB, Cal Poly, San Jose State and NDSU are all regionally-ranked in their respective regions.
On the women's side, 11 Division I teams are set to compete , including fifth-ranked Stanford. Other teams set to compete are Cal Poly, CSUN, North Dakota State, Sacramento State, San Jose State, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara. UC Davis and Cal Poly are both ranked in the West Region.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs continue their busy early portion of the schedule next weekend returning to action at the Sacramento State Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 3.
"Be Bold" - Stay connected with the Bulldogs on Facebook (Fresno State Athletics), Instagram (FresnoStateAthletics), Twitter (@FSAthletics) and Snapchat (FSAthletics).
