Santa Clara Hosts Annual Bronco Invite

By Gabe Taylor

Despite the familiar environment and excellent weather conditions at Baylands Park in Sunnyvale, Calif., the final results of the Bronco Invitational were not what the Santa Clara cross country team had expected.

"We started out the season by setting some really lofty goals for ourselves as a team and overall, I feel we haven't quite really performed up to those standards," said senior Robbie Reid.

Racing in front of family, friends and fans, the men's and women's teams sought out success amid about 800 participants.

The men secured a 12th place finish behind Robbie Reid and Ben Demaree, who both turned in stellar performances.

With a time of 24:13.4, Reid managed to sail into 10th place at the Bronco Invite.

"All in all, I thought it was a good result for me," said Reid. "I finally feel like I'm rounding back into racing shape."

Throughout the race, Demaree stayed right on Reid's heels.

"It is a strong motivating force knowing your teammate is there going through and experiencing all the same things you are," said Reid. "You can help each other out and feed off of the other person's energy."

Arriving four seconds after Reid was fellow teammate Demaree, recording a time of 24:17.3. The two have grown accustomed to remaining near one another for the majority of the races. Earlier this season at the Stanford Invitational, Reid and Demaree crossed the line in 16th and 17th place respectively in the 8K.

"Ben is an outstanding young runner, and is definitely someone to watch in the coming years," said Reid of his teammate.

Leading the women's team to a 19th place finish was junior Mary Reynolds.

"We were a little disappointed," said Reynolds, who was dissatisfied that Santa Clara was unable to carry over their strong performances from the Charles Bowles Invitational in Salem, Ore. to their home invite.

The Broncos had snagged second place at Willamette University two weeks prior to hitting the Baylands Park terrain.

Reynolds' sub 18:30 time proved to be the best of any Bronco on the women's side.

"It wasn't terrible; it wasn't great. I'm just looking forward to conference," said Reynolds.

Youthful feet followed in her tracks as freshmen Mary Kriege and Kelly Ryan were the next Broncos to dash past the finish line.

The West Coast Conference Championships, held Oct. 29, are up next on Santa Clara's schedule.

According to Reynolds, the women's team is gunning for at least fifth place. But with the addition of Brigham Young to an already competitive conference that includes Loyola Marymount, the University of San Francisco and Portland, she realizes it will not be an easy feat.

"As much as we can get our pack up with theirs, that will just make for a really great race," Reynolds.

For many of the runners, the conference tournament is what it all comes down to.

"We have just about two weeks until our conference meet at Crystal Springs in Belmont, and I know that when the time comes we will be ready to step up as a team and perform the way we know we are capable of," said Reid.

Contact Gabe Taylor at gtaylor@scu.edu or (408) 551-1918.