SAN FRANCISCO — The Saint Mary's Men's Cross Country team sent a young contingent to compete in their 2025 season opener, with eight of their nine competitors getting their first taste of collegiate cross country competition. With it being such a young squad, all five of the Gaels scoring runners were debutants, headlined by true freshman Jackson Woolf, who paced SMC today. 

Throughout the first six kilometers of the 8K race, it was one of the de facto veterans for Saint Mary's who led the way, Andrew Perez. Perez did not compete attached to SMC in any cross country races last season, but was in the program, and saw time on the track in the Spring. Through 6K, Perez jumped from 129th following the first loop, all the way to 77th heading into the final 2K. The Downey, California native did an excellent job setting the pace for his freshmen teammates, as Luke Davis, Jackson Woolf, Nick Shoemaker and Jacob Schuetze all entered the final loop of the course within 10 seconds of Perez. 

In the final lap of the course, Jackson Woolf kicked it into high gear, overtaking Perez to cross the finish line as the Gaels top finisher. Hailing from the state of Oregon, a state that knows something about producing great runners, Woolf was able to jump seven spots over the final two kilometers to take home the Gaels top spot and 73rd place overall. Behind Woolf and Perez (77th), the Gaels saw true freshmen Luke Davis (79th), Jacob Schuetze (85th) and Nick Shoemaker (95th) all crack the top-100 in the 150 racer field. 

The Gaels will take the next two weeks to prepare for the Kim Duyst Invitational in Ceres, California, taking place on September 13.

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