By Mohamed Bafakih (@moe_fresco)
Make it two wins in a row for the San Jose State women’s cross country team as it took over Sacramento.
The Spartans finished first out of 22 schools, with Jennifer Sandoval, Adilene Aldapa and Jeanette Zambrano all earning top-five finishes at the Capital Cross Challenge on Saturday.
Sandoval finished seven seconds behind first-place Danielle Shanahan of Loyola Marymount with a time of 20 minutes and 30 seconds.
A second later, Aldapa crossed the finish line to take third in the 6k race.
Zambrano rounded out in fifth place with a 20:56.2 mark en route to helping the team to a 20-point victory ahead of runner-up Nevada.
“It’s not too bold to say this race is the turning point for this program,” said head coach Brad Wick in an interview with SJSU Athletics.
Sandoval, Aldapa and Zambrano finished in similar order at the Fresno Invitational on Sept. 9, making it the second team victory in three events. The Spartans finished second out of five schools in the season-opener last month at the San Francisco Invitational.
For the men’s team meanwhile, a middle-of-the-pack finish once again was the outcome at the Capital Cross Challenge Saturday morning.
The Spartans finished ninth out of 22 teams as senior Huruy Zeratsion was the highest individual placer for SJSU at 13th place with a time of 24:24.7.
Coming afterward for the Spartans was Charlie Hope, who finished 41st with a time of 25:24.1 and Josue Gonzalez two spots later at 25:25.1.
Chico State won the men’s 8k challenge with three top-15 finishers as Kyle Medina finished in first with a time of 24:12.1.
Both SJSU cross country teams will resume action on Oct. 14 at the Bronco Invitational in Sunnyvale.