SAN FRANCISCO — The Santa Clara University men's cross country team opened its 2026 season Friday at the 33rd annual USF Invitational in Golden Gate Park, grabbing a fourth-place team finish with two individuals in the top-10.
 
Sophomores Zafer Courcelle and Will Carroll finished ninth and 10th, respectively, and fewer than four seconds apart. Courcelle finished the 8-kilometer race in 24 minutes, 25.7 seconds, while Carroll crossed the line in 24:29.4. Fellow sophomore Jack Tobin – running in his first collegiate cross country race – was Santa Clara's third finisher and third runner in the top-20, placing 16th in 24:38.1.
 
The Broncos' top-three had only a 12 1/2-second gap between them, but the rest of the team's scorers were 30 seconds behind that. Liam Papavasiliou – a preseason all-West Coast Conference honoree last week – finished 42nd in 25:08.9. Eric Ortega-Gammill was SCU's fifth and final scorer, turning in a time of 25:14.0 to come in 47th. Evan Charkut (55th, 25:30.4) and freshman Kingston Shillito (73rd, 25:57.1) – making his collegiate debut – rounded out the Broncos' top-seven.
 
Jack Kyle (78th, 26:02.8), Connor Rickey (103rd, 26:26.9), Coen Strub (107th, 26:29.7) James Ponzio (122nd, 26:46.2) and Jude Alvarez also competed for Santa Clara on Friday.
 
California Baptist's Yemane Mulugeta won the race in a time of 23:52.8, leading the Lancers to the team title with 33 points. Host San Francisco had two runners right behind Mulugeta, securing a second-place team showing with 50 points, and California placed third with 77 points. No Cal runners beat Courcelle or Carroll, but the Golden Bears tucked three right behind them in 12th, 13th and 14th place. The Broncos finished fourth with 109 points, beating six other Division I teams, including WCC foes Pacific (9th, 224 points) and Saint Mary's (10th, 288 points).
 
The Broncos take a weekend off before splitting the squad between the Saint Mary's Invitational in Concord, Calif., on Sept. 18, and the John McNichols Invitational on Sept. 19, hosted by Indiana State at this year's NCAA Championship site in Terre Haute, Ind.