Cal Maritime heads to Southern California to start 2021 season
Meet 1
10th-Annual Master's University XC Invitational
Hosted by Master's University
Saturday, Sept. 25 — Central Park (Santa Clarita, Calif.)
Men's Collegiate 8k Open: 8:45 a.m.
Women's Collegiate 5k Open: 9:30 a.m.
Men's Map | Women's Map
VALLEJO, Calif. – Cal Maritime's cross country teams will hit the road for the longest road trip of the season, for their season-opening race, when they head to Santa Clarita for Saturday's Master's University XC Invitational. With a slated start time of 8:45 a.m., the men will tackle the 8k course following by the women's 5k race, which commences at 9:30 a.m.
"This is a good course to start the season since it is challenging, yet manageable race for everyone," said men's and women's head coach Jeff Ward. "This is a great way for the cadet-athletes, especially the freshmen, to acclimate to the pacing and distance at the collegiate level."
Known as one of the conference's top programs alongside Embry-Riddle and UC Merced, the Keelhaulers will use results from this race to help everyone prepare for November's Cal Pac Championships, which will take place in Fresno on November 1.
"Rather that set specific times that will determine a successful outcome for the weekend, I would like each runner to focus on giving their best effort each race. Since the route and terrain changes from one course to the next, comparing times from one meet to another may not provide an accurate picture of how each cadet-athlete is performing.
"By focusing on the process itself and giving maximum, yet strategic efforts, cadet-athletes will naturally improve as the season progresses," Ward added.
As one of the rare sports that were able to compete last spring since competitions took place outdoors in a socially-distanced-friendly manner, both the men and the women finished third when the Cal Pac hosted its year-end championships.
"Everyone knows how fast they need to run when the league championships arrive, this weekend's meet is the first step to help everyone compete at the highest level and hit peak performance when the league's year-end meet arrives," said Ward.
With the exception of last year's COVID-altered season, which forced competing Cal Pac cross country teams to remain local, the Master's Invitational is annually featured on the Keelhaulers' schedule.
Following this meet, both teams will have nearly three weeks to prep for their next meet, the Ryan Munez Bobcat Inviational, hosted by UC Merced on October 16.