Sept. 26, 2009

STANFORD - The Cal men's and women's cross country teams both placed second to host Stanford at the Stanford Invitational Saturday morning. It marks the third straight meet the Golden Bear men and women have posted top-three finishes this season.

In the men's 8,000-meter race run on the Stanford Golf Course, the Cardinal claimed the first five places to total 15 points. Cal, led by Steve Sodaro's 15th-place finish, took second with 101 points, just ahead of UC Davis, which had 102 points.

In addition to Sodaro, the Bears had two others in the top 20, with Collin Jarvis in 17th with a time of 24:48 and Maxime Chevee in 18th one second back in 24:49. Matt H. Miller (23rd, 24:55) and Renaud Poizat (28th, 25:10) also scored for Cal. Other Bears to compete were Chris Vizcaino, who was 32nd in 25:13, and Matt Petersen, who was 36th in 25:19.

Kari Karlsson, Cal's top returning runner who had expected to make his 2009 debut at Stanford, was held out of the race as he is recoving from the flu.

On the women's side, Stanford prevailed with 24 points, and Cal was the runner-up with 100 points. Loyola Marymount (143), UC Davis (145) and Chico State (187) rounded out the top five.

Deborah Maier, running in her first race of the fall, led the Bears by covering the 6,000-meter distance in 20:41, good for fourth overall. Ellie Keene was 14th in 21:07, followed by Michelle Davis in 23rd (21:44), Sofia Oberg in 29th (21:51) and Keena Kohl (21:53). Hillary Hayes (33rd, 21:58) and Alison Greggor (37th, 22:04) completed Cal's contingent.

"This was a rust-buster for some of our returnees and a good opportunity for many of the freshmen to test themselves against a large, competitive field," head coach Tony Sandoval said. "This was a great prep for pre-nationals in three weeks. The women demonstrated they are a contender for an NCAA bid in November."

Cal returns to action at the Pre-NCAA Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind., on Oct. 17.

Stanford Invitational
Stanford Golf Course
Stanford, CA

Men's Results - 8,000 meters
Team Results: 1. Stanford 15; 2. California 101; 3. UC Davis 102; 4. Chico State 158; 6. UC Santa Barbara 187; 7. Loyola Marymount 219; 8. Baylor 247; 9. Cal Poly Pomona 275; 10. UC Irvine 294; 11. Santa Clara 307; 12. CMS 310; 13. UT San Antonio 330; 14. Sacramento State 373; 15. Humboldt State 401; 16. Academy of Art 410; 17. Saint Mary's 448; 18. West Valley College 590.

Individual Winner: Chris Derrick (Stanford) 23:54. Cal Finishers: 15. Steve Sodaro 24:43; 17. Collin Jarvis 24:48; 18. Maxime Chevee 24:49; 23. Matt H. Miller 24:55; 28. Renaud Poizat 25:10; 32. Chris Vizcaino 25:13; 36. Matt Petersen 25:19.

Women's Results - 6,000 meters
Team Results: 1. Stanford 24; 2. California 100; 3. Loyola Marymount 143; 4. UC Davis 145; 5. Chico State 187; UC Santa Barbara 196; 7. Cal Poly & Long Beach State 201; 9. UT San Antonio 269; 10. Sacramento State 282; 11. USC 332; 12. Seattle Pacific 334; 13. Santa Clara 350; 14. UC Irvine 351; 15. Cal State Northridge 408; 16. CMS 417; 17. Cal Poly Pomona 426; 18. Humboldt 505; 19. San Diego State 569; 21. UNLV 572; 22. Saint Mary's 632.

Individual Winner: Tara Erdmann (unattached) 20:20. Cal Finishers: 4. Deborah Maier 20:41; 14. Ellie Keene 21:07; 23. Michelle Davis 21:44; 29. Sofia Oberg 21:51; 30. Keena Kohl 21:53; 33. Hillary Hayes 21:58; 37. Alison Greggor 22:04.