The Chico State men’s and women’s cross country team competed at the Capital Cross Challenge at the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex on Oct. 1 and had strong performances in the invitational.

Men’s Cross Country

The men’s team showed a dominant performance during the competition and finished with 29 points. The team outpaced second place Arizona State by 55 points and had five of the top 10 runners cross the finish line.

Senior Will Reyes finished first in the race, with a time of 23:29.8. Reyes led the team last year and has continued his performance this season by snagging his second first place finish.

Junior Kyle Medina followed close behind Reyes, finishing second with a time of 23:45.6. Graduate runner Falco DiGiallonardo took seventh, senior Steven Martinez took eighth and junior Conner Fisher finished in 10th to give the team a first place win.

Women’s Cross Country

The women’s cross country team took fifth in the invitational, with a team score of 153 and trailed by six points from fourth place Loyola Marymount.

Senior Sadie Gastelum led the team with a sixth-place finish and was the only Wildcat to crack the top 25. Gastelum finished with a time of 20:55:2 and was the first DII runner to finish the race.

Chico State took second when factored to DII schools only, with a score of 28, losing by one point to Cal Baptist University. The ‘Cats competed against 19 schools, 16 of which were DI, and beat out 13 of them to place fifth in the invitational.

The team’s return to the track on Oct. 8 at the Triton invitational.

Gabriel Moreno can be reached at [email protected] or @GabeSports3 on Twitter.