Seven Tigers Run Personal Bests at Stanford Invitational
STANFORD, Calif. (Sept. 29 2007) - The Occidental College men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to the Stanford Invitational this weekend, running well on both sides.
The men’s team finished 20th among numerous Division I, II and III institutions from across the nation. In the 8k race senior Kevin Chaves led the pack with a time of 25:03 (43rd).
The next five Tiger harriers to finish all recorded life time best performances. Junior Keith Blumenfeld was the second Tiger home, crossing the line in 25:45 followed by senior Galen Smith (26:02), junior David Martinez continued (26:43) and sophomore Adrian Harrison (27:08) as he cracked the Tigers top five for the first time. Harrison knocked 13 seconds off his previous best performance. Also shaving time off his race was freshman RJ Infantino (27:25) who had a huge break through day knocking an impressive 40 seconds off his previous best 8k time.
In the meet Oxy ran without two of its top runners from the first two competitions of the season.
For the women’s team a number of runners clocked in with personal best performances as well. The team placed 21st.
Sophomore Maddie Weissman continued her impressive season by leading the Tigers home in 23:46. The next two ladies to finish, senior Caitlin Croall and junior Rachel Keylon, dipped under the 24 minute barrier in the 6k for the first time this year. Croall crossed the line in 23:51 with Keylon right behind at 23:52. The fourth and fifth finishers were the sophomore duo of Denali Halsey and Grace Peck, finishing in 24:29 and 24:47 respectively. Finishing sixth and seventh were the junior pair of Alison Kjeldgaard and Sandra Martinez. Both produced her best ever 6k times as Kjeldgaard crossed the line in 26:03 and Martinez finished in 26:21.
Tiger runners will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 13 at the first SCIAC Multi-Dual meet of the season, which will count for 50% of the final conference finish. The teams will run at Prado Park in Chino Hills, CA to kick off the championship section of the season.
