SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – Caltech Cross Country ran in its third event of the 2023 season Saturday morning, competing in 11
th Annual Master's University Cross Country Invitational and showing continued improvement on individual top times.
The meet kicked off at 7:30 in the morning as 236 athletes representing 21 programs ran in the men's collegiate 8K race. Caltech junior
Rohun Agrawal crossed the finish line first for the Beavers, placing 18
th overall, fifth among SCIAC runners and with a program-best time of 24:47.6. The team finished with an average time of 26:32 as junior
Thomas MacLean (26:18.7), senior
Kyle Piper (26.37.8) and first-years
Colin La (26.52.2) and
Ryan Fortin (28:04.0) followed. MacLean's time improved upon his personal 8K record by about 55 seconds, previously set at the 2022 SCIAC Cross Country Championships; teammates
Jordan Ostby and
Steve Garcia also set new personal bests.
Full meet results here
And then the women's team ran the park's 6k course and finished in sixth out of 16 programs with a score of 213. Junior
Sophie Dalfonzo led the Beavers to the finish with a time of 22:28.5, followed closely by sophomore
Gigi Pistilli at 22:32.5, respectively claiming the fourth and fifth spots in Caltech's all-time women's 6K record times. Senior
Katy Chu scored third for Caltech at 23:19.5, and rounding out the top five for the Beavers were senior
Lauren Garriques (23:43.8) and sophomore
Elisa Grillo (24:29.4). With that 1-5 split of just about two minutes, the team averaged a time of 23:18, nearly breaking the program's all-time record in the 6K.
Up next for Head Coach
Kelli Blake and the Beavers will be a split-squad weekend on Oct. 7, as Caltech will participate in both the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational and the Pre-Nationals Invitational in Carlisle, Pa., giving the Beavers some valuable experience on the very course where this year's NCAA Championships will take place. Find meet information as it becomes available at
https://gocaltech.com/coverage, and follow the team
Instagram and
X (formerly Twitter).
