UCSB’s Ethan Godsev smoked the competition in the men’s race and the Gaucho women’s team took top honors on Saturday as the season-opening Lagoon Invite cross country meet returned.
The meet featured UCSB, Cal Poly and Westmont teams.
Leading the way for the UCSB women was Sierra Ransweiler, who came in second with a time of 17 minutes, 51.97 seconds. Her teammates were right behind her in the standings as Sarah Chaves came in third in 18:07.75 and Stina Johansson was fourth with a 18:09.4.
Micaela O’Connell (18:13.61) and Madeline Franco ( 18:25.99) rounded out the top five, finishing sixth and eighth, respectively.
“The women packed up right from the gun and took control of the race It was great to see them run this way,” said coach Shayla Houlihan. “This has been a year-long learning process of building fitness and trusting themselves and each other. It’s a really special time to be part of this women’s team.
“Winning the meet was icing on the cake. Sierra and Sarah led the team really well, which is a reflection of the strong spring and summer base building they’ve been able to put in. Newcomer Stina will be right up there with them in a few weeks. Big things to build off of for this crew.”
Ethan Godsey won the 8k men’s race in 25:02.11, finishing 17 seconds ahead of second-place Andres Leon of Westmont (25:19.40). Senzo Sohkela of the Warriors was fourth in 25:30.07. Gauchos Preston Bowlds (25:46.12) and Esteban Magana (25.47.28) were ninth and 10th, respectively.
Tomas Mountcastle and Brandon Cobain of UCSB finished in 12th and 13th overall with times of 25:53.5 and 25:59.14, respectively.
Cal Poly won the team title with 36 points. The Mustangs had four runners place in the top 10, led by third-place
Jake Richardson in 25:23.79
“The men’s race execution was a little shaky, but we have all the pieces on this team to execute down the line at Notre Dame, Pre-Nationals and ultimately Big West Championships and Regionals,” coach Houlihan said. “The biggest take away from today was Ethan Godsey. He was a monster over the last two miles of the race. Such an impressive win by a true freshman. These guys have put in a ton of work over spring and summer. I’m excited to see what they can do in the next training block.”