SUNNYVALE, Calif. – The Utah Valley University women's cross country team won the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational, while the men finished second behind an individual victory from senior Kevin Lynch on Saturday at Baylands Regional Park in Sunnyvale. 
 
Senior Savannah Neuberger helped lead the women's squad to victory in the women's 6K race by posting a 12th-place finish with an impressive time of 20:39.9. The meet marked the first time on the season that the Wolverine senior has been UVU's top finisher. 
 
"We had pretty solid women's race with Savannah Neuberger leading the way. It's pretty impressive what Savannah is doing. She is a full-time school teacher in Heber City, a full-time student, is married, and all the while finding time to still workout with the team and perform at a very high level," head UVU coach Scott Houle said. "I was pleased with the performance of all of our top-five finishers. This was a first for us to win this meet and a great accomplishment."
 
The UVU women won the Bronco Invitational for the first time in program history with a total 105 points. By winning the meet, UVU finished ahead of 25 other institutions in Wyoming, Rice, San José State, WAC foe Grand Canyon, Saint Mary's, Montana, the host Santa Clara Broncos, UC Santa Barbara, Loyola Marymount, Portland State, Houston, UC Davis, fellow conference opponent Seattle U, Sacramento State, Nevada, Long Beach State, San Diego State, Pac-12 foe California, Eastern Washington, Fresno State, Hawaii, Lamar, Pepperdine, Pomona-Pitzer and Cal State Monterey Bay. 
 
Behind Neuberger's 12th-place finish, sophomore Mazzie Melaney too finished in the top 20 by placing 20th with a time of 20:51.8. Fellow sophomore Maggie Zwahlen was next by placing 22nd (20:57.3), while sophomore Skye Jeppson took 24th (21:01.2) and freshman Kate Richardson 33rd (21:09.2). Sophomore Maddie Bench Empey too ran well by placing 38th with a time of 21:14.4, while sophomore Taylor Viertel finished 67th (21:45.3). 
 
On the men's side, the senior Lynch won his first race of the season by besting 178 other competitors in the men's 8K race. The reigning WAC Men's Athlete of the Year posted his third top-five finish on the year by winning the men's race with a blazing time of 23:42.3. Sophomore Hawk Call also finished in the top-10 for the UVU men by placing sixth with a time of 24:19.8.
 
The Wolverine men finished second out of 23 schools with 68 points. UC Santa Barbara won the men's race with 52 points, while Lamar took third, Pepperdine fourth and Santa Clara fifth. UVU also finished ahead of LMU, Houston, Cal, Long Beach State, San José State, WAC rival GCU, Saint Mary's, Portland State, Eastern Washington, fellow WAC foe Seattle U, Sac State, Montana, Fresno State, Nevada, Central Arizona, Antelope Valley, American River and Cal State Monterey Bay.
 
"Kevin obviously had a really strong race. He was extremely controlled and did a good job of leading the men's race pretty much from start to finish," Houle added. "Hawk, Geofrey (Kemboi), Britain (Reynolds) and Jared (Gonzalez-Perez) all also ran well for us. It was pretty much a dog fight head-to-head with the scores with UCSB. I was proud of the team for being able to beat a number of highly regionally ranked opponents."
 
Junior Geofrey Kemboi had another strong meet for the men's squad by placing 11th with a time of 24:25.0, while sophomore Britain Reynolds followed in 19th (24:35.6) and Jared Gonzalez-Perez rounded out UVU's top-five finishers by taking 31st (24:47.9). Freshman Daniel Bausch (24:48.1), freshman Jorge Vazquez (24:53.4) and junior Lamek Keditukei (24:53.5) also ran well by placing 32nd, 41st and 42nd, respectively. 
 
The Wolverines will continue a busy stretch by taking part at the Utah Open on Friday, Oct. 25 in Salt Lake City. The meet, that will be hosted by the University of Utah, will take place at Sunnyside Park and will mark UVU's final meet of the regular season. The 2019 WAC Championship will then be held the following week – Saturday, Nov. 2 – in Kansas City.