After sweeping the USD invitational last week, Stanford cross country will compete in the Dillinger Invitational this Friday in Springfield, Oregon. This will be Stanford’s “official” season opener, as only five men and five women competed last week in San Diego.

With the men’s team ranked second nationally and the women checking in at number five, the Cardinal begin their season with rankings matching their NCAA performances last year.

On Saturday, the five Cardinal men finished within one second of each other, showing their strength in pack running. Sophomore Isaac Cortes, making his debut for the Cardinal, was the first to cross the line in 25’36. Overall, the squad placed second through sixth to tally 20 points, almost halving the 39 points of runner up UC San Diego.

During the women’s race, the Cardinal took the first four spots in 21:35 for 6 kilometers, finishing with 29 points to runner up UC San Diego’s 47. Sophomore Fiona O’Keeffe, who placed fifth in last year’s outdoor 5k at the NCAA championships, was the first to cross the line for the Cardinal.

Stanford looks to keep this momentum going heading into Friday’s invitational, where it will face stronger teams from a Pac-12 conference that dominates the nation.

Contact Alexandre Bucquet at bucqueta ‘at’ stanford.edu.