SAN FRANCISCO, Ca. – The UC Santa Cruz men's and women's cross country teams made their 2024 season debut at the 31st annual University of San Francisco Invitational at Golden Gate Park. On the men's side, the Slugs ran to a ninth place finish in a strong field of Division I programs with the women's team earning a 10th place finish, also competing against Division I programs. The Banana Slugs will be back in action on Sept. 14 when they travel to Davis, Ca. for the UC Davis Stump Invitational.
 
Men's 8k
The Banana Slugs were led by first year Michael Lennox, who earned a top-60 finish after crossing the line in 26:03.0, finishing in 59th place. Lennox averaged a 5:14.4 mile throughout the 8k to lead the Slugs through Golden Gate Park. Desi Herrerias and Benthan Vu were the next two Banana Slugs to cross the line with Herrerias taking 72nd with at time of 26:36.7 with Vu finishing a stride behind in 26:37.0 to take 73rd. Ethan Vahle and Gavin Hahn rounded out the top-5 finishers for UC Santa Cruz with Vahle completing the 8k in 26:45.6 with Hahn crossing the line in 26:49.2 with the duo taking 78th and 81st overall. The Banana Slugs had another four runners finish inside the top-100 in the stacked field with Alex Wille (27:02.4), Liam Manley (27:05.0), and Brennen Rickey (27:05.0) finishing in 86th, 87th, and 88th, respectively with Eduardo Palma crossing in 27:09.4 to take 90th.
 
Overall, the Banana Slugs scored 247 points to finish in ninth place, finishing ahead of Fresno State and Cal Poly DC who scored 264 points and 313 points.
 
Women's 6k
UC Santa Cruz saw first year Sara Teitelbaum lead the charge for the Slugs, crossing the line in 22:55.9 to take 54th overall with a 6:09 mile average. Jordan Robinson and Madison Lorenz were the next two Slugs to complete the 6k in Golden Gate Park with the duo taking 66th and 70th overall with Robinson leading the way in 23:16.3 while Lorenz crossed the line in 23:22.2. Ryanne Reynolds also turned in a sub-24 minute performance on the day, finishing the race in 23:39.2 to take 79th place overall for the Banana Slugs. Lucia Muthu, Madelyn Basinet, and Rosey Harris closed out the top-seven performers for UC Santa Cruz with Muthu leading the way in 93rd with a time of 24:55.1 with Basinet and Harris following closely behind to take 94th and 95th, respectively with the duo crossing the finish line in 24:56.7 and 25:02.5. Sofia Placias earned a 100th place finish with a time of 25:34.0 with Hope Martin finishing just over five seconds later to take 102nd with a time of 25:39.8.
 
The Banana Slugs finished the day with 284 points overall, taking 10th place with a team average time of 23:37.