SUNNYVALE, Calif. – The Bronco Invitational was a monumental race for UC Santa Barbara Cross Country, with numerous personal records being set and school records challenged. The Gauchos showcased excellence on both personal and team fronts, demonstrating elite teamwork and individual triumphs and featuring exceptional achievements from several members of the team. 

Ethan Godsey took the course today and etched his name into UC Santa Barbara athletic history. The sophomore standout not only led the way for the men in the Invite 8K, placing a staggering third out of 149 runners, but set a school 8K record of 23:21.8, besting the previous record by three seconds. After today's groundbreaking meet, the current team now boasts four men in the UC Santa Barbara top 20 all-time 8K times.  

Godsey's record-breaking run was not the only highlight of the race, as several other runners achieved personal milestones. Senior Manan Vats came in as the second Gaucho to finish and placed 17th overall, accomplishing a personal best of 23:59.9. He was followed closely by freshman Parker Simmons, who crossed the finish line as 20th overall with a time and personal record of 24:06.2.

Sophomore Nate Osborn was the fourth male Gaucho to finish, ranking 27th overall and clinched a personal best of 24:14.2. Junior Gus Marshall came in as the final scorer for UC Santa Barbara, with a time of 24:22.4 and placing 34th overall. Freshman Van Filek was the fourth Gaucho to set a personal record in the Invite 8K, with a time of 24:54.1. The men placed an impressive third out of 16 teams, following only behind Cal Poly and Cal. 

The men's team as a whole made Gaucho history at the Bronco Invitational, as they finished with the second-fastest combined time in UC Santa Barbara history at 2:00:24. The top five averaged a time of 24:09.9 and put up the best combined time in 17 years, which is only exceeded by the average time of 23:59.6 recorded by the 2006 team. The 2006 team was 27th in the NCAA Championships, meaning that there are only 13 men in the program's history who ran faster average times than today's team. 

The women's team also displayed their prowess in the Invite 6K, placing eighth out of 21 teams. Stina Johansson, a consistent frontrunner, led the women again, placing 28th out of 187 runners with a time of 20:57.5. Freshman Danielle Hollander had another remarkable race, coming in second for the women and 31st overall with a time of 21:04.5, beating her previous best by 36 seconds. Claire Selleck, Sierra Ransweiler, and Isabella Abusaid followed as the remaining scorers for the women.

Both Ashling Carr and Claire Chaves set a personal best in the Invite 6K, putting up times of 22:02.9 and 22:42.4, respectively. The team's success follows a couple of weeks of practice and focused efforts to improve their capabilities. Coach Jason Zarb-Cousin has been fundamental in helping the team reach their potential. 

"The team overall performed beyond expectations and they executed at a high level," Zarb-Cousin said. "There were a lot of great individual performances and I was impressed with how all the hard work we put in over the last couple of weeks paid off."

The Men's Open 8K also featured a number of personal records, as five more runners managed a personal best today, with four of them placing for the Gauchos. Travis Bryson came in a striking fourth overall out of 304 runners and forged a new personal best of 24:34.0. Manny Correia followed closely in a monumental seventh-place finish and set a personal record of 24:41.8. 

KC Barber came in as the third scorer for the Gauchos and crossed the line 24th overall, carrying with him a personal record of 25:18.2. Luca Romero ran in fourth for UC Santa Barbara and 44th overall with another Gaucho personal best of 25:39.1. Noah de la Rionda was the final runner to score with a time of 25:55.3, coming in 56th overall. Ben Pinkel also ran a personal best of 26:06.0. 

The Women's Open also proved impressive, as it saw the 6K debut and consequent personal records for three freshman runners: Leah Mendibles, Nikki Dorostkar, and Alexa Bryson. Mendibles placed as the second Gaucho to finish and 23rd overall, with a time of 22:58.4. Dorostkar was the fourth Gaucho to finish with a debut time of 23:32.4, followed by Bryson with a debut of 23:50.9. Maya Lacamp was the first Gaucho to finish in the Open with a time of 22:28.6 and placed 13th overall. Lexi Darley finished as the fourth scorer for the Women's Open, coming in 28th overall with a time of 23:06.7. 

Following their exceptional performance, the Gauchos are looking forward to the future and continuing their streak. 

"I am excited for the rest of the season to see how much better we can get," Zarb-Cousin said. 

The Gauchos' next stop is the Big West Championship, which will be hosted by Cal Poly on October 27. 

Results for the Bronco Invitational can be found here.