By: Tyler Lobe, Assistant Athletics Director for Communications
OFFICIAL RESULTS
PHOTOS
SAN MARCOS, Calif. -- Vincent Sarino smashed through the course on Saturday, running a personal-best eight-kilometer time of 24:47.2 and outran all but one of the 79 runners to secure a second place finish for not only himself but for the Cal Poly Pomona men's cross country team at the 2021 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Men's Cross Country Championships hosted by Cal State San Marcos.
Sarino became just the second CPP runner since 2018 to earn All-CCAA honors, an award given to the Top 15 finishers in the conference meet each year. Sarino's effort also cemented himself among the names of some of the most explosive runners in CPP men's cross country history; he is just the 13th Bronco to earn a Top 2 finish in a CCAA race dating back to 1968. Only a sophomore this year, Sarino shaved 22 seconds off his previous-best time in an 8K and crossed the line just four seconds behind individual champion Brayden McLaughlin of Chico State and only two ticks ahead of third-place Shea Vavra of Cal State San Marcos.
As a team, Cal Poly Pomona scored 83 points, the lowest since 2017, and placed behind team champion Chico State, which had seven of its runners place in the Top 11 to score a 25 and capture its 19th straight CCAA championship. The Broncos edged third-place Cal State San Marcos (88) by five points. Stanislaus State (109), Cal State East Bay (127), San Francisco State (144), Cal State Monterey Bay (214), Cal State LA (221) and Humboldt State (224) rounded out the rest of the team scoring.
It is the 12th time in the last 18 CCAA Championship races that the Broncos have placed second as a team, and it was the first time as CCAA runner-up since 2017.
In addition to Sarino bringing home some hardware for his Top 15 finish,
Daniel Echeveste earned Freshman of the Meet honors as he was the first true freshman of all CCAA freshmen to cross the line Saturday. He finished 21st overall with a time of 25:33.0.
Gideon Pichardo also set a personal-record in the 8K, taking nine seconds off his previous best with a 19th place time of 25:29.0, coming in just four seconds ahead of Echeveste.
Diego Duran placed 24th with a time of 25:36.9,
Leandro Candray took 26th after crossing the line at 25:39.0,
Nicholas Albro placed 27th running the course in 25:41.8 and
Francisco Zavaleta took 29th with a new personal-best time of 25:46.9, knocking 17 seconds off his previous best.
Christian Coley (26:23.8) was 52nd,
Alejandro Mariscal (26:42.1) was 60th and
David Dahl (27:53.6) was 72nd.
Cal Poly Pomona will advance to the NCAA Division II West Region Championships in two weeks on Nov. 6 at Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth, Ore.
