Press Release
10/13 - BRONCO INVITATIONAL: Giffey-Brohaugh Runs to 2nd Place in Santa Clara Open
Santa Clara Bronco Invitational Results (M&W)
SUNNYVALE, Calif. - Rachel Giffey-Brohaugh ran to a second-place overall finish and first place for team scoring purposes in the women's 5K Open race, highlighting a strong effort by the George Fox University women's cross country team in the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational Saturday morning here at Baylands Park.
Giffey-Brohaugh covered the course in 18:56, her second-best 5K time ever, and trailed winner Christine Jowaiszas of the University of San Francisco by only five seconds. Other key performances for the Bruins came from Anna McLain, who ran a 19:12 (9th/7th), Bethany Adams with a 19:16 (11th/9th), Sarah Curry with a 20:18 (23rd/15th), and Nicole Fleming with a 20:45 (28th/19th). Adams, a senior, and Fleming, a junior, set new personal records for a 5K race, while Curry, another freshman, was running a 5K for the first time.
Those finishes added up to 51 points for George Fox, behind only Sacramento State University, which had 25 points. After that came San Jose State University with 56, Westmont College with 115, Modesto Junior College with 136, and Sonoma State University with 142.
"Every season has ups and downs, and it is up to each individual athlete to find the character needed to persevere and push through the tough times, and our women are starting to exemplify that," said George Fox coach Mike Hickey. "We ran a terrific race today, starting with Rachel, who almost won the thing. We got a good race out of Anna, an outstanding effort out of Bethany, and our two freshmen are beginning to understand what it takes to compete for a college program."
The Bruin men did not fare quite as well in the men's 8K Invitational, placing 15th out of 17 teams with 402 points. Long Beach State University took the team title with 85 points to 111 for Loyola Marymount University, while individual honors went to unattached Brendan Gregg in 24:36, followed by Mike DeLaurenti of host Santa Clara in 24:49.
The Bruins' best time was posted by Cam Eberhart with a mark of 26:14, good for 63rd overall and 53rd for team scoring. Also producing points for the Bruins were Grant Finney with a 26:21 (75th/64th), Jordan Ware with a 26:36 (91st/75th), Bradley Higgins with a 28:04 (138th/102nd), and Adam Haldorson with a 30:31 (153rd/108th).
"It was a rough day score-wise for our men" admitted Hickey. "Our two sophomores (Eberhart and Ware) ran well, and Grant had a solid race, but it could be tough going for us until we get Paul Rapet back from an injury."
The Bruins will be off next weekend before hosting the Northwest Conference Championships on Saturday, Oct. 27, at Willamette Mission State Park near Brooks, Ore. The women's 6K race will start at 11:00 a.m., followed by the men's 8K race at 12:00 noon.
