San Diego, Calif. – Running two athletes short the Pacific Cross Country team ran well at the 6K Triton Classic in San Diego Calif., Saturday, October 8. The Tigers were led to a 2:06:36 team time from freshmen Katie Castro and Rebecca Tuttle.
Castro was the first to cross the line posting a time of 23:44 and a 17th place individual finish. It was the freshman's second best time ever, in a season where Castro seems to improve every week.
Just over a minute behind was Tuttle, finishing at 24:50 and a 55th place finish. The time was a personal record for the freshman, and seven seconds faster than her previous race two weeks ago.
Tuttle was proud of the team's race Saturday saying, "we all went out too fast our first mile, but stayed strong throughout the tough hills in the second and third miles." She added, "We keep improving every race and are excited for our next races."
Head Coach Josh Jones is thrilled with the impressive showing from his two leading freshmen this season saying, "They are still learning the 6K, but I see improvements every week. I think they are very close to setting some impressive times at Pacific."
Rounding out the Tigers was senior Jamin Quiroz's 74th place finish and time of 25:21. Her time was 30 seconds better than last year finish at the Triton Classic.
Cassi Rush was next who beat her time from last year in San Diego by 1:34, and was just two seconds off her personal record. Rush set a personal record in the first mile of the course with a time of 6:05.
Like many other Tigers, senior Monica Torres improved on her time from last years Triton Classic with a 99th place finish and 26:23 time. Freshman Micaela Todd set another personal record by 35 seconds with a time of 28:03.
Jones is looking forward to the upcoming weeks saying, "we are running very well heading into the Big West Championships. Overall the team ran great today without Melissa Hopper or Julia Lane. This was a great tune-up for our ultimate goal of a team record time at the Big West Championships."
Next week Pacific travels to Santa Clara, Calif. for the 5K Bronco Invitational in Riverside, Calif. on Saturday, October 15.
