ROCKLIN, Calif. — Cross Country in February. Seems strange, doesn't it? Not for Saint Mary's, as the Gaels ran their first Cross Country race since November 2019. Racing against other Northern California colleges in the Jessup Invitational, hosted by William Jessup University in Rocklin, the Gaels were the class of the field. Saint Mary's took first place in both the men's and women's races, won individual titles in both, and set a course record on the women's side.
 
HOW SWEEP IT IS
Saint Mary's blew through the field on Saturday en route to first place in both the men's and women's races. On the men's side, Saint Mary's finished nearly four seconds better on average than the William Jessup runners to coast into first place. The Gaels occupied the top four spots on the men's side, while Sacramento State had one runner come in fifth place to break up the cluster of Gaels. The women were arguably more impressive, having to compete with an entire Sacramento State squad that pressured the Gaels at the top. With an average time of 14 seconds per runner, the Gaels were able to sneak past.
 
MEN'S CHAMP – DOZIER
Competing for the first time since the 2018 fall on the trails, Nolan Dozier paced the Gaels on the men's side by nearly a full minute over any other runner. The win for Dozier was his first as a member of the Gaels, and it came at time of 25:31.8. About a minute behind him, at 26:27.1 was a brand-new Gael making his Saint Mary's debut: Thomas Osborne. The Sherwood, Oregon native was fast in his debut, besting Anthony Vazquez for second place by less than a second. Sebastian Andersson finished fourth for the Gaels and capped off the impressive logjam of Gaels at the top of the leaderboard.
 
WOMEN'S RECORD-HOLDER – STANZIANO
Rayna Stanziano is no stranger to success. The sophomore out of Concord was a top-finisher during nearly every race during her freshman season and she picked up right where she left off. She was able to get past former NAIA-cross country star Bailey Cossentine by 17 seconds en route to an 18:21.7, her fasted 5k time at the collegiate level. Not only did the mark earn her first place and an individual title, but she also set the course record at Johnson-Springview Park. Alize Hartke finished fourth with a time of 19:12.9 whie Abigayle Mitchell and Molly Dreher finished within a second of each other for fifth and sixth place.
 
KINSEY QUOTES
"It was so amazing to see our student-athletes compete after being sidelined for nearly a year. We had some good races, we had some tough races, but the takeaway from today is we had races. We are so grateful for Saint Mary's, William Jessup, and I am so proud of our student-athletes and coaching staff that were able to get this done today." – head coach, Marty Kinsey.
 
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