CROSS COUNTRY REVVING UP FOR CAL PAC CHAMPIONSHIPS

In the final race before the conference championships, 10 Keelhaulers set personal records or season-best times at the William Jessup Warrior Invitational.

The race took place at Johnson Springview Park in Rocklin on cool comfortable day on a flat track. A unique aspect of the Warrior Invitational was for the first time this season that the men ran before the women, with thier race starting at 8:30 am.

In the women's 5K race, Cal Maritime's Lauren Silva (FR/Honolulu, HI) improved her personal best by shaving almost two minutes from her previous top time by finishing in 22:39.4. Evelyn Esparza (JR/Vallejo, CA) finished the race with a season-best effort at 25:31.9. Coach Ward emphasized effort and dedication to finishing strong for his women's team.

"We talk a lot about effort and output, and we are seeing the results," Ward said. "Lauren and Evelyn both had great runs. We only had 4 Keelhaulers run this race, but we will be at full strength next week at the Cal Pac Championships."

Start time for the women in Fresno is set for 9:30 a.m.

Goody Walowit (JR/South Lake Tahoe) again led all Keelhaulers with a time of 27:59.6. Of the 13 men who ran for Cal Maritime, eight posted personal records. Seth Brown (FR/Yokosuka, Japan) set his career-best time at 31:23.3, Jacob Flores (FR/Menifee, Ca) set his at 31:04.6, Jacob Jagelski (SR/Los Gatos, CA) at 28:29.6, and Logan Kent (SR/Martinez, CA) at 30:35.5.

Other career bests included Thomas Drangsholt (FR/Seattle, Wa) at 31:25.3, Oliver Chen (SO/Westchester, CA) at 30:04.9, Kevin Nguyen(SO/Garden Grove, Ca.) came in at 31:26.2 and Stephen Rosenfeld(JR/Wilmington, NC) finished in 21:59.9.

Xavier Bushnell (SR/Honolulu, Hi) made his Keelhauler debut an finished at 32:41.2. Coach Jeff Ward likes where his team is going into the conference championship meet.

"Another great effort for the Keelhaulers at William Jessup," Ward said, "We have an important week ahead of us leading into the Cal Pac Championships, and the confidence we gained from this race will hopefully carry us through to Fresno."

The Cal Pac Championships held in Fresno at Woodward Park, with the men slated to start at 10:30 a.m.

Southern Oregon took first at the Warrior Invitational with an average time of 25:06 for the 8K.