Stanford meet chalked up to experience

By Jennifer Umaña
Daily Forty-Niner

The Long Beach State cross country team benefited from the Stanford Invitational this past Saturday -- not necessarily by the numbers, but by the experience gained.

In the Championship Invitational, the LBSU men's team placed 15th out of 18 teams while the women's team finished 17th of 21. There were 168 runners in the women's division and 139 in the men's.

"It's tough to run in a meet that big," said Assistant Coach Dana Colligan Gutierrez.

Many of the team members are still learning how to adjust from high school level meets, she said.

Numerous nationally ranked teams competed at the meet, including the host school, which placed first in both the men's and women's categories. The invitationals have a higher level of competition than the collegiate sections, which is where LBSU competed last year.

The women "exceeded their expectations for the meet," said Derek DeCicco, captain of the men's team.

"It was a good meet for them," he said. "They beat some teams that they hadn't beaten in the past."

Senior Christine Riel led the 49er women with a time of 18:42. She completed the Women's Invitational in 38th place. Senior Mary Colburn clocked in at 19:03, good enough for 53rd place.

Colligan Gutierrez noted that freshman Diane Mendoza made a big improvement from last year, shaving off 20 seconds from her personal record.   Mendoza previously ran at the Stanford Invitational in the high school division.

Even though the women did well, they still have a lot to learn, Colligan Gutierrez said.

The men's team also did well, but they too need to gain more experience, she said.

"There were some teams that they should've beaten," Colligan Gutierrez said.

DeCicco said that the men's team did not accomplish what they set out to do.

"We wanted to finish in the middle of the pack, but we didn't do that," he said.

He added that their legs were tired from the hills at the Stanford Golf Course and they were also tired from the trip to Hawaii the previous weekend.

The men's team was led by senior Larry Henderson, who finished 37th at 26:20. Henderson also improved on his time from the same meet last year.

The meet was a chance for both the men's and women's sides to improve and gain experience.

Anytime something is learned from the meet, it is considered a success, Colligan Gutierrez said.

Next up for the LBSU cross country team is the Long Beach State Invitational  Saturday at El Dorado Park.