University of the Pacific’s men’s and women’s cross country teams delivered standout performances Friday at the Pacific Invitational at Micke Grove Golf Course.

The women won their first team title at the home meet in more than 15 years, while the men finished second in their inaugural season.

Angelina Lione ’28, paced the women’s victory,  winning the 6K race in commanding fashion with a time of 21:37.0, finishing nearly 30 seconds faster than her previous personal best. The biology major’s performance marked the fifth-fastest 6K time in program history.

"I'm happy with the efforts from both teams, especially for the women to win the race and do it in a controlling fashion," said Head Coach Isaac Wood. "They did exactly what I wanted them to do. They ran together as a group. We put four in the top five. Angelina controlled a polished race. Everyone ran really solid. An outstanding race and a sign of good things to come."

Lione credited the home crowd with helping push her to the finish.

“The community was really cheering me on the whole time. It felt great to have that extra support,” Lione said. “This was actually my first-ever cross country home meet in my entire career, and it felt good to compete nearby.”

Pacific’s depth was on full display as the Tigers claimed all three podium spots and five of the top six places. All seven competitors finished in the top-10, averaging a time of 22:15.28. Pacific defeated UC Santa Cruz, Cal State East Bay, William Jessup and Dominican to clinch the team title.

On the men’s side, Pacific excelled in its first-ever home meet, earning a second-place finish behind Santa Clara. The Tigers placed two runners in the top-five and six in the top-15, finishing 15 points off first place and 14 points ahead of third-place Saint Mary’s. They also bested UC Santa Cruz, Dominican and William Jessup.

“It was an awesome experience to run in front of the home crowd, and we tried to put on for the city,” said team captain Logan Evans ’27, a media production major. “Our team has a few things we need to improve upon, but all in all, I thought it was a good race.”

Kohl Sanders ’28, an exercise science major, was the top finisher for the men, clocking 25:18.4 in the 8K to place in the top five and setting a new school record. The performance followed his individual title at the Big Wave Invitational in Oahu, Hawaii, on Sept. 5.

Pacific will look to continue its upward momentum on Oct. 18 at the Bronco Invitational, hosted by Santa Clara, before competing at the West Coast Conference Championships on Nov. 1 in Spokane, Washington.