SUNNYVALE, Calif. — The Santa Clara University men's cross country team finished second Saturday in the 23-team Bronco Invitational at Baylands Regional Park, with a bevy of youth anchoring the Broncos' performance in the team's final tun-eup before the West Coast Conference Championship.
Sophomore
McCoy Brooks led the Broncos with a 12th-place overall finish. Brooks broke the 24-minute barrier on the 8-kilometer course, running an impressive time of 23 minutes 57.6 seconds.
"We do workouts here, just easy runs, to kind of memorize like the back of our hand," said Brooks. "Then, you know, similar to a high school or college football game, it's like our home stadium."
Brooks was followed by fellow sophomore
Jacob McManus, who finished 21st (24:17.4), significantly besting his 2025 time of 24:43.2 on the same course. William Carroll (23rd, 24:19.2) and
Zafer Courcelle (26th, 24:23.1) were right behind McManus. Santa Clara's all-underclassmen top-five was rounded out by freshman
Kingston Shillito (33rd, 24:32.3).
Kaden Helder (38th, 24:37.3) and true freshman
Jackson Levasseur (39th, 24:37.8) finished back-to-back to complete the Broncos top-seven.
Paul Beaven finished 43rd in 24:41.0 to give Santa Clara eight runners among the top-45.
Liam Papavasiliou placed 54th in 24:47.9, and
Jack Kyle was 59th in 24:49.6 to fill out the Broncos' top-10.
Evan Charkut (72nd, 24:57.0),
Eric Ortega-Gammill (90th, 25:16.5),
Oliver Maldonado (124th, 25:36.3),
Matthew Lawrence (130th, 25:39.5),
James Ponzio (131st, 25:40.6) and
Austin Clough (140th, 25:47.7) also competed for the Broncos.
The Broncos as a team finished in second with 78 points, trailing only Chico State's 46 in a competitive 23-team field. "Really pleased," said Santa Clara head coach
Felipe Montoro. "I thought the guys really got after it."
The Broncos next compete in the 2026 WCC Championship in San Diego on Oct. 30th.
