Bears Start Fall Competition at USF Invite

SAN FRANCISCO – California cross country competed in its first meet of the 2022 season at the USF Invite in Golden Gate Park on Saturday morning.

"I'm very pleased with the team's opener," Cal head coach Bobby Lockhart said. "They ran well off a controlled effort and we also had a few surprises from the freshmen. We're off to a solid start, but there's still a lot of work to do before conference."

The men's team took home second-place and placed three student-athletes in the top-10.

Freshman Caden Carney was the first to cross the line for the Bears in his debut run in the Blue & Gold. He ran the 8,000-meter loop in 25:04.5.

Shortly behind Carney in sixth-place was Garrett MacQuiddy, who finished the race in 25:12.0. Helping Cal clinch the second-place team finish was Landen Lee who came in eighth-place with a time of 25:12.7.

The women's team collected an eighth-place finish on Saturday. Newcomer Ellie Black was the top-Cal finisher for the women's squad. She finished the 6,000-meter race in 22nd-place.

Natalie Weiner was next to cross the line followed by Lucy Hurt shortly thereafter. The duo finished in 41st and 44th-place, respectively.

Eight student-athletes made their debut for the Golden Bears in the race. In addition to Carney, Rowan FitzGerald and Chris Waligorski raced for the men's squad for the first time.

On the women's side, Emilie Barrett, Carolina Dawson and Sydney Morrow made their first appearance for Cal in addition to Black and Hurt.

UP NEXT
The team now turns its focus to the next race on the schedule which will take place on September 17. Cal will travel down south to compete at the UC Riverside Invitational.

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