Results

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The Caltech men's and women's cross country teams took on the UC Riverside Invitational on Saturday with both returning and rookie Beavers posting noteworthy performances in a pair of physical and gritty races. The men and women each competed against programs from Divisions I, II and III, among others as the men earned 12th place in the open 8,000-meter race and the women nabbed 17th in the open 5,000-meter division.

First-year Kyle Berkson (Salt Lake City / Olympus) led a crew of first-year Beavers in the men's race with an exceptional 57th place showing among 297 total finishers. The standout averaged just over 5:10 per mile as he traversed the 8,000-meter course, ultimately crossing the line at 25:44.4 to set a new personal record by over 40 seconds.

Fellow rookie Stephen Goehringer (Wellesley, Mass. / Wellesley) followed moments later at 25:56.5 for 79th place before sophomore Ryan Fortin (Londonderry, N.H. / Londonderry) finished 94th after crossing at 26:08.1. First-year Jack Sullivan (Bethesda, Md. / Georgetown Preparatory) came across in 134th (26:30.4) with a near-70 second PR while senior Rohun Agrawal (Cupertino, Calif. / Monta Vista) rounded out the top five in 138th (26:32.9). Junior Jacob Wolmer (Tenafly, N.J. / Tenafly) finished with a near-40 second personal best, crossing at 26:38.2 for 151st.

The Beavers scored 304 points for 12th place out of 23; they beat out multiple SCIAC and higher-division foes.

The women's race saw a dominant performance from senior Sophie Dalfonzo (Fair Haven, N.J. / Biotechnology & Rumson-Fair Regional), who smashed her own 5,000-meter program record (XC) with a time of 18:04.0. The star averaged 5:48.9 per mile en route to a stunning 13th place performance out of 280 athletes.

Junior Gigi Pistilli (Portola Valley, Calif. / Woodside) shot up to No. 2 all-time on the program's cross-country 5,000-meter recordboard as she posted a blazing time of 18:31.6, earning her 40th.

Junior Camilla Power (Edmonds, Wash. / Saint James) crossed the line in 147th with a time of 19:38.0, earning her a lifetime best by over 35 seconds for the distance, including track times. First-year Shrila Esturi (Campbell, Calif. / Saint Francis) placed 193rd (20:16.1) with a new PR of over 40 seconds while junior Elisa Grillo (Cypress, Texas / Bridgeland) earned the final points for the Beavers moments later as she crossed the line in 203rd (20:22.2). Rookie Hypatia Hamkins (New York / The Brearley School) followed Grillo in 208th (20:26.8) with a new PR of nearly 45 seconds.

Collectively the group scored 438 points; they finished ahead of a Div. I opponent and multiple from Div. II.

Both teams will continue their training before heading east to compete in the NCAA Pre-Nationals Invitational on Friday, Oct. 4 in Terree Haute, Indiana, on the same course to be used for the NCAA National Championships this November.

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