NIPOMO, Calif. (Sept. 1, 2023) – UC Santa Barbara Cross Country attended The Big West season opener Friday, kicking off what promises to be an exciting year. The impressive showings from both the men's and women's teams indicate a successful 2023 season for both freshmen and veterans.
Of nine teams, the men placed second overall, only 17 points behind Cal Poly and 50 points ahead of third place UC Riverside. The women placed fourth out of ten teams and gained significant distance ahead of other teams after the first kilometer.
Senior Stina Johansson was a trailblazer for the women's team, placing sixth out of 105 runners in the 5k with a time of 18:10.0. Freshman Danielle Hollander made her Gaucho Cross Country debut and made significant strides, finishing as the second woman from UC Santa Barbara with a time of 18:28.6.
Freshman Parker Simmons also had a breakthrough first meet, finishing as the third-fastest male Gaucho in the 6k with a time of 18:34.2. The performances from the rookies inspired Director of Cross Country/Track and Field Cody Fleming.
"Saw some nice things today," Fleming said. "First meets give you a snapshot of where you're at and what you need to work on moving forward.We raced a large group of newcomers and several impressed us today."
The men's team had two runners finish in the top 10 – Ethan Godsey and Manan Vats. Godsey came in fifth of 111 runners, finishing with a time of 18:16.2, while Vats came in eighth with a time of 18:25.8.
Fleming was also pleased with the efforts of the returning Gauchos.
"As for returners, Ethan and Stina led the way," Fleming said. "Manan also had a breakthrough performance. He had a great summer of training and today it showed."
Sarah Auther (18:37.4), Ashling Carr (18:54.7) and Claire Chaves (19:04.5) were the remaining top five for the women's team. Nate Osborn and Van Filek were fourth and fifth for the men's team, with times of 18:36.9 and 18:41.1.
The Gauchos have a couple of weeks to train before their next meet, which UC Riverside will host on Sept. 16.
Results for The Big West Preview can be found here for the women, and here for the men.
