SOUTH BEND, Ind. (Sept. 29, 2022) – The UC Santa Barbara men's and women's cross country teams are back in action as they head to South Bend, Indiana to race in the Joe Piane Invitational hosted by the University of Notre Dame.

Both squads for the Gauchos are competing in the Blue Division against some of the top programs in the NCAA. On the men's side, UC Santa Barbara will compete against No. 14 Notre Dame, No. 22 Montana State, No. 24 Butler, No. 25 Alabama and No. 27 Michigan. Florida State will also be at this meet as they received votes in the most recent USTFCCCA National Coaches' Poll.

The women will compete against even tougher competition. The Gauchos will race against No. 1 NC State, No. 3 New Mexico, No. 8 Notre Dame, No. 10 Alabama and No. 27 Oregon State. Along with that, Florida State, Liberty, Penn State and Toledo will also be contenders in this race as they all received votes in the most recent National Coaches' Poll.

During their last race at UC Riverside, the women's team finished in fifth out of 31 teams while the men finished in 10th of 29 teams. Sarah Chaves had the best performance as the senior finished 28th out of 265 runners while Brandon Cobain led the charge on the men's side, ending his race in 34th out of 266 competitors. 

The races in South Bend will begin at 10:30 a.m. ET/7:30 a.m. PT with live results available through PT Timing. The Women's Blue race will be at 7:30 a.m. PT with the Men's Blue race beginning at 8:15 a.m. PT.