Arizona cross country sweeps Dave Murray Invitational

Arizona men’s and women’s cross country broke in their new home turf in exciting fashion Friday, sweeping the Dave Murray Invitational at Tucson Country Club.

It was the first time the annual invitational was held at Tucson Country Club, which also serves as the new home of Arizona’s men’s and women’s golf programs.

The Arizona women took four of the six places in the 6K, led by Grace Driskill’s second-place finish of 20:28.5. Sailer Hutton finished in fourth-place with a time of 20:32.7, followed by Mia Chavez in fifth at 20:42.0 and Alisa Lyseina in sixth at 20:42.1.

The women earned 34 points to finish ahead of runner-up New Mexico State with 49 points.

This was the second straight win for the women, who previously took home the UC Riverside Invitational.

In the men’s 8k, Ian Sanchez-Lopez led the way with a second-place time of 23:57.5, followed by Brennan Foody in third at 24:04.2 and Iker Sanchez-Lopez in fourth at 24:07.0.

The men finished with 26 points, well ahead of runner-up ASU with 72 points.

“We’re excited this morning for the results that happened today,” said Arizona coach Bernard Lagat said. “The women winning in a fantastic fashion with what was almost a perfect score. And then the men also came out, all the freshmen did a great job, everyone was supportive, and again they almost had a perfect score.”

Arizona concludes the regular season in at the UCR Highlander Invitational in Riverside, Calif. on Oct. 15.