SAN DIEGO — University of San Diego cross country opened the 2026 season Thursday night at the Aztec Coastal Classic, where every runner who scored for the Torero men was a freshman. The men finished third at Mission Valley River Park and the women placed fourth in a five-team field.

Parker McAdam and Bob Johnson ran the 7K together and came through 1.7 seconds apart, McAdam 14th overall in 22:30.2 and Johnson 15th in 22:31.9. Jack Loomis was third across for USD in 23:00.4, good for 20th, and Sam Keith and Joey Bronzini closed the scoring in 22nd and 23rd, four-tenths of a second apart at 23:16.9 and 23:17.3. Troy Turner (24th, 23:20.0), Cole Carlson (27th, 24:31.7) and Michael Ivory (29th, 24:43.9) rounded out the group. Seven of the eight Toreros in the race were first-year runners.

The men scored 81 points behind UC San Diego (15) and UC Irvine (50) in a three-team field, averaging 22:56, or 5:17 per mile, with 48 seconds separating the first and fifth scorers.
Clare Boneau led the women through the 5K a half hour later, taking 12th in 18:10.4 and holding off UC San Diego's Shea Elmore by a tenth of a second. Rebecca Bronstein followed in 17th at 18:19.5 to give the Toreros a pair inside the top 20.

Abby Huth and Madi Li made their collegiate debuts count as San Diego's third and fourth scorers, Huth 27th in 18:43.6 and Li 29th in 18:46.5. Sydney Tackett completed the scoring five in 32nd at 18:52.8, with Camryn Kozak 1.2 seconds behind her in 34th.

USD's 111 points put the Toreros fourth, 24 clear of Point Loma. San Diego State won the race with 27, followed by UC San Diego (35) and UC Irvine (65). San Diego averaged 18:35, or 5:59 per mile, and packed its scoring five inside 43 seconds.

Evelyn Cody (41st, 19:08.3), Lilly Dow (48th, 19:28.4), Jilli Lange (50th, 19:31.0), Brooke Phelan (53rd, 19:40.7), Allison Kirby (57th, 19:48.4), Molly Stewart (59th, 20:01.4), Rachel Biondo (63rd, 20:12.8), Ashleigh Schein (64th, 20:16.9), Talya Sepand (65th, 20:17.9) and Giselle Larsen (66th, 20:22.1) also ran for the Toreros.

The opener gave a new-look roster its first opportunity racing against live competition.

"We saw several outstanding performances, including strong individual efforts, competitive racing, and great teamwork throughout the evening race," head coach Will Guarino said afterwards. "On the women's side, Clare Boneau and Rebecca Bronstein carried the lead for us, they worked well together to set a good starting point. Abby Huth and Madi Li are new freshmen that played a critical role and stayed tough throughout the race, and Sydney Tacket delivered a strong fifth for us. On the men's side, the freshmen were the story, and our new athletes contributed to our top five. Parker McAdam and Bob Johnson led the group and pushed one another to an important one and two positions for us. Jack ran a competitive race, finishing third for our mighty blue Toreros. Sam Keith and Joey Bronzini pushed through the last half of the race to secure our team's fourth and fifth positions. For many of our runners, this was an important first step in establishing a foundation for the season ahead. I was especially proud of the newcomers, as we are leaning on our 15 freshmen to immediately make a contribution to our growth this season."

UP NEXT
San Diego returns to the course on Sept. 19 at the UC Riverside Invitational, a 7:50 a.m. start on the UCR Ag Ops Course in Riverside, Calif.