Women's Cross Country gets valuable experience at PUC

Angwin, Calif.—Cal Maritime Women's Cross Country started the 2018 season in the challenging, hilly, dirt-track featured in Angwin, Calif. for the PUC invitational, where the Keelhaulers finished 2nd out of seven participating teams.

The Cal Pac teams participating in the PUC Invitational were Simpson, La Sierra, Sierra Nevada, and UC Merced along with Cal Maritime, with UC Merced finishing first.

Leading the way for the Keelhaulers was sophomore Lauren Silva who ran a time of 24:52 and finished 8th overall, shaving 3:40 seconds off her finish last year at PUC.

Notable Keelhaulers debuting were Sophomores Jessica Suarez (37:01) and Starr Jones (38:32). Gwyn Curry returns after a red shirt year to finish 2nd for the Keelhaulers running a time of 28:25 in the season opener.

The promise is there for this Keelhaulers squad who finished three spots ahead of last year's 5th place at PUC. Coach Jeffery Ward conveys his excitement with this group of women, focusing on the setting the bar high with improving everday.

"This is a good first race of the season for us," Ward said. "It gives us a barometer for where we are, and we will use this result to motivate on where we need to go."

UP NEXT: The Keelhaulers will travel to Santa Clarita, Calif. for the Masters Invitational on Saturday, September 29th.