SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The Saint Mary's men's and women's cross county programs began their new season at the University of San Francisco invitational on Saturday morning at Golden Gate Park. Nolan Dozier lead the way for the Gaels, with his third place in the 8K helping the men's team to third place overall. 

WOMEN'S SIDE FIRST ON DECK
The women's race kicked off the proceedings in San Francisco with the Gaels finishing seventh overall out of 12 teams. Saint Mary's seven scoring runners posted a combined time in the 6K race of 1:52:55 with an average of 22:35 and a score of 162. Rayna Stanziano lead the pack for the Gaels, finishing 15th in a time of 22:02.2. Hosts of the invite, University of San Francisco topped the leaderboard with a score of 45. 

DOZIER LEADS THE WAY
Nolan Dozier ran an impressive race, finishing third in the men's 8K race, positing a time of 24:42.2. At the midway point of the race, Dozier lead the pack and went on to finish just more than ten seconds behind Stanford's winner Evan Burke and eight seconds behind Robert DiDonato, also from Stanford. The Gaels had two more finishers in the top 20, with Moses Bojorquez coming in 12th in 24:57.9 and Chandler Maciel finishing 16th in 25:07.2. The Saint Mary's men finished third as a team with 78 points, with a combined time of 2:05:56 and average of 25:12. Stanford ended with 49 points, while Cal came in second with 66. 

UP NEXT
Saint Mary's has two more races on tap for the month of September, including one just six days away. The Gaels will return to San Francisco and take part in San Francisco State Invitational on Friday, September 10. Their final race of the month will come at UC Riverside on Saturday, September 18.

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