CORONA, Calif. -- Men's cross country for Vanguard University raced at the Cal State Fullerton Mark Covert Classic today at the Green River Golf Course and placed eighth out of the nine teams present.  The Lions were led by Ommar Arroyo in 37th and had a team time of 2:16:24.  CSUF won the team title by 15 seconds (five points) over Long Beach State, while unattached Noah Plaza took the individual honors (24:43.8).
 
 What Happened?  Arroyo had a 26:12.2, one second off his personal best, and was the third Pacific West Conference runner to cross the line after two runners from Biola placed second and 20th.  Jesse O'Campo was next for VU in 60th with a mark of 26:57.1, with Ulysses Rios coming home a few seconds later in 67th (27:03.6) for a good initial collegiate outing.  Caleb Dickerson placed 77th after coming home with a time of 27:32.5, while the other freshman, Rudy Mendoza, was 96th with a 28:37.7 on the board.  Josiah Kirby was the 100th runner to finish, netting a time of 28:52.7, a new career best by around one second, and Rylan Starnes was 110th with a 30:51.3.
 
What was said?  "I'm very proud of our teams today," said Head Coach Bryan Wilkins.  "We ran in packs and worked together.  We had great energy and effort today.  It was a great first race and provides a good benchmark of where we're at."
 
What's Next?  The two teams head to the UCR Invitational in Riverside on September 19.