SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Concordia University Irvine men's and women's cross country programs represented their school well in their latest appearance at the Capital Cross Challenge. DI and DII ranked teams were present at the meet, along with many schools from the PacWest Conference and even a number of unattached athletes. Among all of this competition and excitement, the Concordia Eagles stayed composed and walked away from the meet with team averages that were over a minute faster than last year's races. 
 
The men's race started first with Hector Arteaga and Angel Aguirre leading the pack. Arteaga finished first for the Eagles after he navigated a strenuous course. He ran a season personal record time of 25:27 for the 8k race and crossed the line in 15th place out of more than 210 competitors. He was closely followed by Aguirre who posted a finishing time of 25:36 and placed 21st overall. Sophomore David Brito worked his way into the top 50 and was the third Eagle across the line.
 
In addition, recently named PacWest Freshman of the Week Jose Munguia continued the trend of finishing first for the CUI freshman class with a time of 26:18. He was followed by fellow newcomer Trevor Branstatter who placed 82nd and became the fifth Eagle to finish in the top 100.
 
Overall, the CUI men's team finished fourth out of 20 schools entered in the race and first out of the five PacWest Conference schools competing on Saturday.
 
"The big takeaway is that the team worked really well together and overall averaged much faster than last year," said CUI assistant coach Jordan Tuin. "No one individual had an exceptionally fast race, but the team worked together the entire time, which made the performance and end result great."
 
The CUI women's team showed vast improvements as well, and most impressively had only a 20-second gap separating first place from fifth place on Concordia's team. Rosalba Cabrera finished first for the women with a season-best time of 22:39 to take 24th place.  Right behind Cabrera was recently named Newport Rib Company Eagle of the Week Bailey Wade and fellow senior Anamauri Hernandez.  PacWest Freshman of the Week Jori Paradis finished 35th overall for the women's program with another season personal record time of 22:54.  Freshman Sara Feitz rounded out the top five women for the Eagles with a time of 22:59, just barely ensuring that the Concordia women who scored were all under 23 minutes for the 6k race. 
 
Ultimately, the CUI women's team finished third out of 23 squads and first out of the five participating PacWest Conference schools.
 
After conquering the course and enjoying the competitive atmosphere, the Eagles now turn their attention forward with championship season fast approaching. The next cross country meet will be a Code Yellow for the cross country teams, and all CUI fans are encouraged to wear gold or yellow that morning and come out to Irvine Regional Park on Saturday, Oct. 12 as the Eagles race their hearts out at the Vanguard Invitational.
 
For the full CUI cross country schedule, click here.