SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco State women's cross country team ran its final meet before conference and hosted the annual SF State Invitational at Speedway Meadows in Golden Gate Park. While the Bay Area was experiencing heat throughout the day, runners were greeted with a slight breeze in the park for slightly more favorable racing conditions.
The race saw a larger group of participants than years past. The meet represented a mini preview of the Western Regional Meet. Stanislaus State, Chico State, Concordia Irvine, Alaska Fairbanks and Simon Fraser rank first, second, sixth, eighth and ninth respectively in the latest Western Region rankings. The Gators finished ninth out of 15, seven points ahead of Monterey Bay and 11 behind Cal State East Bay.
Anika Pettinger was the first Gator to cross the finish line, placing 39th with a time of 23:46.0. Finishing back-to-back were
Julia Pioroda and
Raven Nieto who finished 57th and 58th with times of 24:19.2 and 24:22.4.
Zaida Velazquez finished 68th with a time of 24:36.8. Rounding out the Gator's top five finishers was
Daisy Salinas who placed 82nd with a time of 24:57.9. The spread between the point scores was 71 seconds.
39th. Anika Pettinger 23:46.0
57. Julia Pioroda 24:19.2
58. Raven Nieto 24:22.4
68. Zaida Velazquez 24:36.8
82. Daisy Salinas 24:57.9
114. Mackenzie MacDonald 26:39.7
123. Olivia Renfro 26:39.7
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Quotables From The Athletes |
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"I feel like this was the best race I've ever ran, I really liked how Julia and I worked together, we were picking off runners one by one. Today was tough because of the heat but I'm really proud of everyone's race and efforts." - Raven Nieto
"I loved how Raven and I stuck together and used whatever breath we had left to push each other and tell each other to keep going." - Julia Pioroda
The Gators race at the CCAA Championships on Saturday, October 21. The Championships, hosted by Cal State East Bay, will take place in the Quarry Lakes Regional Recreation Area in Fremont. The women's race will start at 9 a.m.
