LA JOLLA, Calif. – The UC San Diego cross country teams had a successful start to the 2009 season, with both the men and women recording victories in Saturday's dual meet at the Triton Cross Country Course. The women had five of the top 10 finishers to defeat Point Loma Nazarene, Sonoma State, Cerritos College, and San Diego Christian, while the men recorded five of the top six times to best the Sea Lions and the Falcons.

“The plan for both teams was to make a strong push in the second half,” head coach Nate Garcia said. “We executed, we moved up well and we accomplished our goals. We're definitely happy with today's results after a tough week of training camp. We got the start we were looking for.”  

2008 All-American Bre Schofield picked up right where she left off a year ago, finishing first overall in the women's 2.5 mile race to win the Tritons' season opener for the second year in a row. The sophomore broke the tape with a time of 15:12.2, breaking her own course record by over five seconds and paving the way for UCSD's eight-point win over second-place PLNU. She now has a total of three individual victories for her career.

“I really just wanted to come out and improve my time,” Schofield said. “As a team, I thought it was important us to run as a pack today and we definitely did that, with five runners in the top 10.”

Reigning CCAA Freshman of the Year Elena Inouye finished second overall, clocking in with a final time of 15:51.3, while Aaryn Kobayashi placed fourth with a time of 16:00.2. Freshman Jackie Sikkema posted a time of 16:25.6 to take ninth place and Marie Schaper rounded out the scoring for UCSD with a 10th place time of 16:29.9.

Freshman Brian Knight turned in an impressive debut for the Tritons on the men's side, finishing second overall to lead UCSD to a dominant 56-point victory over Point Loma. The San Luis Obispo High School product made a strong push to finish with a time of 22:52.7, three seconds behind top overall finisher Jason Zapien of Cerritos.

“For Brian to come in and perform like he did on this course, it was really, really big,” Garcia said. “We are excited for what the future holds for him and the rest of the incoming class.”

Triton runners claimed the three through six spots as well, with sophomore Alex Corliss finishing third, senior Mike Wright placing fourth, freshman Matt Lenehan claiming fifth, and sophomore Anthony Heredia finishing sixth to complete the UCSD sweep. Corliss, who led the Triton pack for much of the race, finished with a time of 22.52.7 in what proved to be his best performance at the collegiate level. Wright crossed the finish line at 23:03.4, while Lenehan posted a time of 23:05.6, seven seconds in front of Heredia.

The Tritons will return to action in two weeks with the UC Irvine Invitational on Saturday, September 12. The race is slated to begin at 8:30 a.m. on the UCI campus.