RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Ricardo Vargas established a new Cal Poly Pomona men's cross country record in the 8K, leading the Broncos to a third-place team finish Saturday at the UC Riverside Invitational.
 
Vargas placed second overall with a time of 23:26.4, becoming the first Bronco in program history to break 23:30 in the 8K. His performance surpassed Mark Huizar's previous program record of 23:47.0, set at the 2016 Stanford Invitational, by 20.6 seconds. Vargas also recorded the fastest average mile pace in the attached record book at 4:42.9 per mile, moving ahead of Stephane Franke's previous mark of 4:44.
 
Cal Poly Pomona finished third in the team standings with 103 points and an average time of 24:07. The Broncos placed five runners among the top 34 overall finishers.
 
Freshman Cullen Gully was the second Bronco across the line, placing 25th in 24:13.6. Fellow freshman Luke D'Elia followed closely in 27th at 24:15.8, while Jimmy Guerrero finished 32nd in 24:19.3. Freshman Micah Chandler completed the Broncos' scoring lineup in 34th with a time of 24:22.6.
 
Nathan Sackett placed 48th in 24:33.9, followed by Micah Clemons in 64th at 24:48.3. Freshman Leo Lorenzano finished 75th in 24:53.8, Derek Ynfante crossed 91st in 24:59.3, and freshman Daniel Cheyer rounded out the Cal Poly Pomona entries in 121st at 25:17.2.
 
Vargas' record-setting performance adds another milestone to his standout Bronco career. He already owns the program's fastest 6K time, 18:35.0, and entered Saturday ranked among Cal Poly Pomona's top 8K performers following his 24:16.1 at the 2025 Cougar Challenge.
 
 
Up Next
The Broncos will travel to San Marcos for the Cougar Challenge on Saturday, October 3rd, at Mangrum Track & Field.
 
 
Bronco Bits

• The Broncos currently have a 34-2 record this season. A "win" is a team they finished ahead of, while a "loss" is teams they finished behind.
• Head coach Chris Bradford's teams have a 669-224 record since 2017.
• This was the 19^th time the team had raced on the UCR Ag/Ops Course, and their first time since 2024. In that time, they have beaten 284 of the 406 teams they've raced against.
• Ricardo Vargas broke the school records for fastest 8K time and fastest average pace per mile on Saturday.