ROCKLIN, Calif. – Dominican cross country used Saturday's Jessup Invitational as an opportunity to preview the course that will host the PacWest Championships, with the men capturing the team title and the women racing together as a tight pack during their fourth consecutive week of competition.
 
The Dominican men won the meet with 22 points, finishing ahead of host Jessup's 36. Jessup claimed the women's team title with 26 points, narrowly edging Dominican's 30. Shasta's Noah Gaddy won the men's individual race in 27:56.1, while Jessup's Angela Gladysh took the women's 6K in 23:24.9.
 
With four meets in four weeks behind them, the Dominican women backed off race pace and focused on running together as they prepare for the final month of training before returning to the course for the PacWest Championships. The strategy produced one of the tightest scoring packs possible, with Dominican's first five runners finishing within five seconds of one another.
 
Jessica Carvalho led the group in fourth at 26:55.6, followed just one second later by Sadie Choi in fifth at 26:56.6. Sarah Chavez crossed sixth in 26:58.9, Tatyana Robles followed in seventh at 26:59.9 and Madeline Beaton completed the scoring five in eighth at 27:00.6. Just 5.0 seconds separated Carvalho from Beaton as all five Penguins finished consecutively from fourth through eighth. Ashlyn Ennis added a 10th-place finish in 31:46.8.
 
The course provided the Penguins with an early look at the terrain they will see again at the conference championships, featuring three different hills that runners encountered multiple times throughout the race. The men also got in a little extra work on the championship course, with Saturday's 8K measuring approximately 200 meters long as the hosts continue dialing in the distance ahead of the PacWest Championships. Diego Montag led the Dominican men with a runner-up finish, crossing in 28:11.8 behind Gaddy. Louie Etta gave the Penguins two of the top three finishers with a 29:09.1, finishing just 3.7 seconds ahead of Jessup's Ryden Rivera.
 
Dario Rodriguez was Dominican's third scorer in sixth at 29:56.6, while Jeroam Wood-Piña placed eighth in 31:21.8. Emanuel Hurley completed the Penguins' scoring five in 10th at 31:45.8, crossing only 1.5 seconds ahead of teammate Ishaan Iyer in 11th at 31:47.3. Diego Alas followed in 13th at 32:54.5, with Isaac Robinson 15th in 33:10.8, Jailen Truitt-Johnson 16th in 33:56.0 and Eddie Casilla 17th in 36:38.61.
 
Dominican will have a week of rest before its next meet as it heads back to Golden Gate Park to compete in the SF State Invite on Friday, October 9.