Eastwood second, women golden in California

Saturday, October 19

Sunnyvale, Calif.

Montana

Bronco Invitational

10/19/2019 12:45:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Results

By: Montana Sports Information

June Eastwood finished second in a field of more than 200 runners on Saturday morning as the Montana cross country teams competed at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational at Baylands Park in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Beatrix Frissell, who placed ninth, gave the Grizzlies two runners in the top 10, and Samantha Engebretsen and Rachel Torrey made it four in the top 50.

"The women ran really well. It was a very, very good day on the women's side," said first-year coach Clint May.

Eastwood finished in a time of 20:18 for the six-kilometer course, one second behind San Jose State's Jenny Sandoval.

"June took it out hard, as did some other girls. It went out at a pace Bea had never experienced," said May. "I remember looking at (assistant coach Maryn Lowry) and saying, 'Well, it's not going to be an issue if whether or not we were aggressive.'

"After 400 meters, (June) was in the top five the rest of the way. It whittled down to two runners with 800 meters to go, then it was just a battle of the final two. It was a good one."

Frissell would come through ninth in a time of 20:33 in her first collegiate six-kilometer race.

Engebretsen, who finished 29th, had a 31-second PR of 21:06. Torrey took nearly 90 seconds off her six-kilometer PR, placing 47th in a time of 21:33.

"They should feel pretty darn confident going into conference," said May. Hannah Wylie finished 141st in a time of 22:38.

May had hoped to see multiple athletes from his men's team break 25 minutes on Saturday. None of them did, done in by a lightning-fast start and a large field that made it difficult to find open space.

"It was a big field that went charging out for 300 meters, like four-minute-mile pace," May said. "At that point, we didn't have a single guy in the top 100.

"The field naturally slowed, and we were in the back end of that slow. There was just no movement through the opening mile, with the width of the course and the number of bodies."

It was a race that required patience for the wall of runners to finally break up.

When it did, Ben Vanderbosch raced his way to a 25:03 finish and a placing of 64th, his first time leading Montana. Hunter May finished 86th in a time of 25:25.

"Our two most patient people, who didn't fight it and took if for what is was and bided their time until it opened up, were Ben and Hunter, and they ended up our top two guys," said May.

Kyle Peterson (25:33) finished 100th, Will Dauenhauer (25:33) 101st, Rogelio Mares (26:08) 134th.

Utah Valley's Kevin Lynch won the men's race by 13 seconds in a time of 23:42.

"We're training really well. I don't think today represented our training," said May.

The Big Sky Conference Championship will be held in Greeley, Colo., on Saturday, Nov. 2.