ATHERTON, Calif. –9/21/04- It may not be how you started but how you finish. Early results from the season offer hope, as men’s cross country finished second in their first competition of the year.

At the William Jessup Cross Country Invitational, the Oaks finished in second place behind the host Warriors in the five-mile race. A pair of William Jessup runners set course records, as Tim Steele established a course record in a time of 30:57 while Sara Kelly concluded the 5k (3.1 mile) course in a time of 21:35.

“I was impressed with our overall performance,” noted head coach James Torres after the race. “But we are no where near where we want to be at the Conference tournament, and the team knows it.”

Junior Alfonso Paez finished in ninth place, coming in at 36:55. A trio of runners, Ryan Cramer, Sergio Lopez, and Julio Garcia-Uribe finished in the middle of the thirty six runner pack, a mark not lost on Torress. “Alfonso really surprised me and our group in the middle ran really well on a tough course.”

The Oaks next return to action this Friday, as they co-host the Menlo College / Notre Dame de Namur Invitational in Burlingame at 4:00 pm.