Coming into last Saturday’s race in Costa Mesa at the Vanguard Invitational, the women’s cross country team boasted a No. 9 national ranking. With two consecutive first-place finishes going into the race, the women were looking to add to their ever growing list of strong outings.

Not surprisingly, they came away with their third straight win and an impressive all-around team effort.

The day belonged to sophomore Kristin Schmidt who took first place in the 5K race. She was followed closely by freshman teammate Katie Thede whose solid race placed her third overall.

At the end of the race, the women had four of their runners place in the top eleven and were able to oust No.10 ranked Cal State San Marcos to achieve the win.

The men also had an impressive outing ranking 5th place overall, while achieving possibly the best combined time, 2:11:31.10 by the top five runners in school history.

Senior All-American Brian Ball took first place out of a field of 66 runners in the men’s 8K race. Sophomore Ryan Richert’s strong race earned him 13th place, followed by freshman teammate David Kostelyk in 18th.

It was a strong showing by the Eagles, and a race that has head coach Jonathan Zimmerman confident in the team’s future.

“It was a great race for us,” Zimmerman said. “It definitely puts us in a good mindset heading into the GSAC championships in two weeks.”

The Eagles are awaiting their placement for the GSAC Championship. The race will be held Saturday, Oct. 20, and it too will be staged in Costa Mesa’s Fairview Park.