By Samantha Campion, Sept. 17, 2024
Cal Poly Pomona’s men’s and women’s cross-country teams swept the Coyote Challenge Sept. 7 led by two individual first-place finishes, Evan Franco and Jade Kingston, to stay the course for an NCAA regional appearance later this season.
The No. 22 ranked men’s team won their third-consecutive season opener with all seven student-athletes placing within the top 10 for a combined 18 points, marking only the eighth time in program history that the team scored below 20 points.
Franco transferred from De Anza College into the men’s program three seasons ago and earned his first individual win as a Bronco this past weekend.
Franco averaged 5:06:01 per mile to finish with the second fastest time in his career at 25:21:6 in the 8k, placing first out of 60 runners and was named the California Collegiate Athletics Association Runner of the Week.
“After I won the race, I knew I had a chance at getting the award, and to see that I did win it meant a lot to me,” Franco said. “It’s been a long time here at Cal Poly, and now I am starting to see more success from cross-country, so I hope I continue that success. Now is not when I want to win awards. I want to be doing it later in the season as well, and that’s my main focus.”
Assistant coach Wes Ashford saw a different man when Franco returned this season.
“He worked really hard this summer, and I think it is motivating for him to see that it has paid off,” Ashford said. “He’s way more motivated and a lot fitter than he was last year when he came to us, so I expect him to have a pretty big year.”
Franco believed the first-place finish would come down to himself or his teammates, which speaks to the competitive and team focused environment throughout the program.
Two-time All-Region and CCAA Watchlist honoree senior Leandro Candray followed closely behind in second place with a time of 25:25:8. Redshirt-freshman Ethan Romero finished fourth in his first collegiate race and junior Chris Razo rounded out the top five finishes.
“Our team is going to be a lot different than what regional teams have been in the past,” Franco said. “Our top seven could be shaken up. I haven’t had a chance to run at regionals yet, but I’m hoping that this year, a lot of the other guys and I are going to step it up and make sure that we get ourselves to conference and regionals.”
The women’s team won their second-consecutive season opener with nine Broncos finishing within the top 15 and a final score of 19 points, the second-lowest score in program history.
Kingston set a personal record in the 8k with a time of 18:24.1 to take home the individual title, only the fifth time in program history a Bronco has earned a women’s individual title and the first since 2017.
Halfway through the race, Kingston recognized her odds of winning and focused on creating a larger gap between her and the runner in second place.
“For me, I’ve been trying to speed up in the middle,” Kingston said. “Last year I would slow down, so I’m trying to find a new race strategy that works better for me this year.”
Ashford and head coach Chris Bradford prepare their student-athletes for the mental and physical aspects of cross-country by encouraging them to trust their teammates and their training.
“As coaches, we can help them believe that they are capable,” Ashford said. “We train together as a team and put a training plan together, but it’s up to them to execute that plan on race day. There are no timeouts or substitutions, you have to figure it out.”
Kingston and her teammates look to make the program’s first NCAA regional appearance this season, utilizing a team strategy the Broncos implemented this weekend.
The Broncos run together as a unit for the first half of the race and in the second half, the student-athletes push towards the finish line to place as high as they can individually.
“During workouts and races, we try to cheer each other on and push each other,” said Kingston. “If you notice someone falling behind, we try to keep the mindset when you see someone go with them and try to hold on the best that you can.”
With an early win in their first race of the season, the Broncos look to take this as an opportunity to better understand what they need to do to improve individually over the next two months before the conference championships.
CPP men’s and women’s cross-country will return for the University of California, Riverside Invitational Saturday, Sept. 21.
Feature photo courtesy of CPP Athletics