Keelhaulers head to Fresno for Cal Pac's Cross Country Championships
California Pacific Conference Cross Country Championship
Nov. 4, 2022
Woodward Park
Fresno, Calif.
Hosted by UC Merced
Women's 5K: 9:30 a.m.
Men's 8K: 10:30 a.m.
Women's Results
Men's Results
VALLEJO, Calif. – Cal Pac schools will return to a familiar environment when everyone heads to Fresno, California this week to participate in the league's year-end championship meet. Taking place at Woodward Park for the second year in a row, the women's 5K race will begin on Friday, November 4, at 9:30 a.m. with the men commencing its 8K competition at 10:30 a.m.
"It's been a great year," said head coach Jeff Ward. "I am proud of this group because exceptional leadership was shown to maintain the culture I want this program to have. Our captains — Sarai Alonso and Julia Mast for the women's team; Trevor Hodges and Reid Zieber for the men — did a phenomenal job organizing and executing things to make this season run as smoothly as possible.
"We talk about our program's rules: do your best on and off the course, be an exceptional teammate and have fun. We have been exceptionally successful in having everyone honor those three rules throughout the year."
Since everyone first reported to campus in August, this week's meet was in the back of everyone's mind, for obvious and bittersweet reasons.
"Another core component of this program involves recognizing the value of a moment. This will be the last time this team is together, next year will feature different personalities and different teams. We will focus on Friday's moment, execute our standards and watch everyone compete," added Ward.
Both cross country teams will arrive to Fresno after enjoying outstanding performances in its last competition, the Warrior Invitational, that included personal bests posted by Nolan Bronstrup, Michael Lapinski and Nick Yarusso.
"Julia is coming on strong, as is Safari — I think she has an opportunity to do some good things in Fresno — and Mele Tuimaunei. Our men's team is poised to turn some heads, especially against other Cal Pac teams," said Ward.
Friday's championship is a culmination of a season that started quickly since cadet-athletes needed to hit the ground running, literally, due to summer commitments, obligations and the start of the new academic year.
"With this school's unique situation, we need to focus on the quality of miles and not the quantity. Through our training, I think we accomplished that mission. I feel we are exactly where we need to be entering this race," explained Ward.
For all but a handful of cadet-athletes, Friday's visit to Woodward Park is a familiar one since this is the same course that hosted last year's postseason meet.
"We are bringing 22 runners; most have seen this course. This is where our leadership provides a nice luxury because returners will play a crucial role in helping newcomers prepare for an event like this one. We are also a team of tradition, we intentionally organize things in a similar manner: This provides shared memories and experiences between cadet-athletes, whether they are current, recent alums or competed decades ago.
"We staying at the same hotel and executing a similar schedule (compared to last year) to take advantage of an enhanced level of familiarity, which leads to an enhanced level of calmness on race day. Hopefully these steps will negate as much pre-race nerves as possible and help everyone perform their best."