• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar

San Francisco Sports Today

San Francisco Sports News Continuously Updated

  • Baseball
    • A’s
    • Giants
  • Football
    • 49’ers
    • Raiders
  • Basketball
    • Kings
    • Warriers
  • Sharks
  • Earthquakes
  • Colleges
    • San Jose State
    • Stanford
    • University of California, Berkeley

Cal shows improvement as season approaches crescendo

October 5, 2021 by The Daily Californian

Cal shows improvement as season approaches crescendo

Photo of Cal Cross Country

Phillip Downey/File

Both locally and nationally, the 2021 NCAA cross country season is picking up steam.

While Cal and countless other schools are still in the calm before the storm, pre-nationals conference championships, regionals and — for some — nationals lurk just around the corner. As such, teams are sharpening their focus and tuning up for the postseason.

The latest step in the Bears’ postseason preparation was the Sac State Invite in Rocklin, California. At the meet, Cal faced off against the likes of Sacramento State, Fresno State and, most notably, Stanford.

The women’s 6k race featured a landslide victory for Stanford, which fell just short of achieving a perfect score of 15 when it placed five of the contest’s first six finishers. Led by sophomore Zofia Dudek — last year’s Pac-12 Freshman of the Year — the Cardinal’s top four were separated by less than ten seconds, and its fifth scorer was not far behind. Needless to say, it was a convincing performance by Stanford.

But Cal did not enter the Sac State Invite all too concerned about the scoreboard. For the Bears, the meet was an opportunity to build on the solid foundation they laid at the USF Invite, and a tuneup for later contests like Pre-Nationals on Oct. 15 and the Pac-12 Championships on Oct. 29.

And the blue and gold succeeded in what they sought to accomplish.

All four Cal women — Meredith Corda, Jessica Nye, Piper Wilson and Claire Yerby — who had run at the USF Invite in early September ran faster times this past weekend than in the season opener. And this time, they had company: Kalinda Reynolds, Lauren Calcagno and Natalie Weiner rounded out the Bears’ top seven. Calcagno scored a PR of nearly 40 seconds in her first cross country race since 2019.

The men’s team also turned in a praiseworthy performance in its 8k race. Its objective was much the same as the women’s team, but in the process of taking on the Sac State Invite as a glorified workout, the Bears also managed to claim victory.

Granted, Stanford did not have its top men competing. Charles Hicks and Cole Sprout — both of whom earned All-Pac-12 First Team honors last season — were absent from Friday’s meet, as were multiple other contributors. While the Bears weren’t at full strength either, there’s no question which team was missing more of its contributors.

Regardless of who they were facing, however, the blue and gold looked strong even relative to how they appeared at the USF Invite a few short weeks ago. All but one member of their top seven put up a faster time at this meet than at the season opener and, remarkably, Cal’s first four finishers were underclassmen.

Carrick Denker and Cole Sawires Yager led the charge, finishing first and second on the team and fourth and fifth overall. Denker dropped a 24:48 with an average pace of 4:59 per mile across the nearly five-mile course, and Yager’s time of 24:49 was over a minute faster than what he ran at the USF Invite.

The Bears’ progress in the past month suggests that they’re on their way to peaking at the right time. As the season builds to a crescendo, the blue and gold will continue to find new limits for themselves.

Ethan Moutes covers cross country. Contact him at emoutes@dailycal.org.

The Daily Californian

Filed Under: University of California, Berkeley

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Two-Way Deals: 7/1/25
  • ESPN wants the 49ers to extend this player who is far from a fan favorite
  • Who is the 49ers “safety blanket” receiver?
  • Has Brock Purdy become underrated?
  • 49ers 90-in-90: San Francisco’s second-round pick might be the Niners’ most important rookie in 2025

Categories

  • 49'ers
  • A's
  • Earthquakes
  • Giants
  • Kings
  • Raiders
  • San Jose State
  • Sharks
  • Stanford
  • Uncategorized
  • University of California, Berkeley
  • Warriers

Archives

  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021

Our Partners

All Sports

  • San Francisco Chronicle
  • San Francisco Examiner
  • The Mercury News
  • 247 Sports
  • Bleacher Report
  • Forgotten 5
  • Golden Gate Sports
  • The Sports Fan Journal
  • The Spun
  • USA Today

Baseball

  • San Francisco Giants
  • Oakland A's
  • Last Word On Baseball - Oakland A's
  • Last Word On Baseball - San Francisco Giants
  • MLB Trade Rumors - A's
  • MLB Trade Rumors - Giants
  • White Cleat Beat
  • Around The Foghorn
  • Athletics Nation
  • McCovey Chronicles

Basketball

  • Golden State Warriors
  • Sacramento Kings
  • A Royal Pain
  • Amico Hoops - Kings
  • Amico Hoops - Warriors
  • Blue Man Hoop
  • Golden State Of Mind
  • Hoops Hype - Warriors
  • Hoops Hype - Kings
  • Hoops Rumors - Warriors
  • Hoops Rumors - Kings
  • Lets Go Warriors
  • Last Word On Pro Basketball - Golden State
  • Last Word On Pro Basketball - Sacramento
  • Pro Basketball Talk - Warriors
  • Pro Basketball Talk - Kings
  • Real GM - Warriors
  • Real GM - Kings
  • Sactown Royalty

Football

  • San Francisco 49ers
  • Las Vegas Raiders
  • 49ers Gab
  • Just Blog Baby
  • Last Word On Pro Football
  • NFL Trade Rumors - San Francisco 49ers
  • NFL Trade Rumors - Las Vegas Raiders
  • Niners Nation
  • Niner Noise
  • Niners Wire
  • Our Turf Football
  • Pro Football Rumors - 49ers
  • Pro Football Rumors - Raiders
  • Pro Football Talk - 49ers
  • Pro Football Talk - Raiders
  • Raiders Wire
  • Silver And Black Pride
  • Total 49ers

Hockey

  • Blades Of Teal
  • Fear The Fin
  • Last Word On Hockey
  • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Talk
  • The Hockey Writers

Soccer

  • Center Line Soccer
  • Last Word on Soccer
  • MLS Multiplex

College

  • Busting Brackets
  • California Golden Blogs
  • College Sports Madness
  • College Football News
  • Rule Of Tree
  • Saturday Blitz
  • The Daily Californian
  • The Stanford Daily
  • Zags Blog

Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in