THE COLLEGIAN • SPORTS
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2017
PAGE 7
CROSS COUNTRY
Runners aim for faster pace By Michael Ford @MFordCollegian
Fresno State’s cross country running team had another strong showing Saturday at the Fresno Cross Country Invitational at Woodward Park in Fresno. It was the second event of the season. The Bulldogs joint hosted the event with Fresno Pacific University. As a team, the men finished fourth behind Cal Poly, San Jose State and cross town rival Fresno Pacific. The women finished third behind San Jose State and Cal Poly and just ahead of Fresno Pacific. Bulldogs seniors Joel Gonzalez and Efren Reyes paced the team on the men’s side, a four mile run, with times of 20:52 and 21:10 respectively. Gonzalez finished fifth in the field overall and Reyes finished ninth. “I’m a little upset that I wasn’t closer to my teammate Joel,” Reyes said. “ He really left me out there in the middle of the course.” Gonzalez was surprised on how well he was able to stick with some of the runners from schools known for their good running programs. “I was thinking that Cal Poly is a really good running school and I didn’t know why they were sticking with me. I was thinking I could hang with these guys and it gave me some confidence.” Gonzalez said. Senior Kathleen Dunne and freshman Lydia Scott were the Bulldog’s top performers for the women’s 5k race with times of 18:19 and 18:24. “I felt pretty strong,” Scott said. “ This is the second meet so there are definitely things that we can improve on but my body felt good during the race.” “I was expecting all three of our top girls to work together out there and that was exactly what happened. I am really impressed on how the race went.” she added. “Going into the race I knew I was going
SOCCER
Finding time for fun during an intense soccer season
Michael Ford • The Collegian
Sophomore Michael Viano competes in the Fresno Cross Country Invitational at Woodward Park on Sept. 9, 2017
to feel tired during the race just because it is so hilly.” Dunne said. “Just to be at a home meet, it was good to treat it almost like a workout because we do our workouts here and that made it a little easier mentally.” Head coach Christine Engel was happy with how her team performed, especially as the team is still in the early part of the season. “I think that it was a definite improvement from a week ago. We don’t have a lot of depth on either side. That forces each individual to be accountable and know that they really have to perform.” she said.
“I think that Joel and Efren were good for us up front. Our goal is to learn from each competitive opportunity.” Still, Engel knows that there still is a good margin for improvement. “Obviously we look at the championships as what we gear everything toward at the end of October. In another six weeks we are going to be more experienced, tougher, have more strength down the line.” she added. Fresno State will look toward improving for their next meet on Sept. 30 at the Capital Cross Challenge in Sacramento in an event hosted by Sacramento State.
Mountain west Scoreboard Utah State 51 Idaho State 13
Nevada 24 Toledo 37
Hawai’i 23 UCLA 56
New Mexico 28 New Mexico State 30
Colorado State 38 Abilene Christian 10
UNLV 44 Idaho 16
San Jose State 0 Texas 56
Wyoming 27 Gardner-Webb 0
Fresno State 10 Alabama 41
San Diego State 30 Arizona State 20
Megan Trindad • The Collegian
Fresno State forward Myra Delgadillo (11) runs with the ball against UC Davis on Sept. 7, 2017 at the Soccer and Lacrosse Stadium.
By Nugesse Ghebrendrias | @nugebear13
Senior forward Myra Delgadillo is known for her toughness and passion in the game of soccer. However, it’s her love for jokes and pranks that makes her distinct. “I’ll never forget the time we were doing a team meeting and we were trying to be serious and make sure everyone was focused,” Fresno State head coach Brian Zwaschka said. “[She] and her compadre, Maria Gomez, both went up to the board to diagram tactics, and they both had cowboy boots on for some reason. I have no idea why, but I’ll never forget it though.” Delgadillo didn’t deny it. She thought it would be a fun joke. Delgadillo thought “‘Let me just go to the team meeting and wear the cowboy boots to see what they’d say about it’.” “I like to be the clown on the team,” she added. Though student life and being a top player in the conference has its time constraints, Delgadillo still finds time to hide in her teammate’s truck. “She stopped at a light and heard a noise so she started pressing the gas,” Delgadillo said. “She heard us laughing so she turned around and started screaming.” She may be quiet at first but once comfortable, she opens up, Zwaschka said. Along with jokes and playing soccer, Delgadillo is a big fan of the game. “She loves Barcelona and Neymar,” assistant coach Sean Steele said. “We’re always texting back and forth with the latest updates on Barcelona and Neymar so I think soccer is something she enjoys.” Delgadillo expects to score more goals, collect assists and continue the pranks as the Bulldogs fight for the top spot in the Mountain West.