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Stanislaus junior races to cross country title
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Before the season began, the Cal State Stanislaus women’s cross country team figured that Rubye Elhard would have a breakout year.

On Saturday, Elhard had an impressive start to her junior season by clocking a time of 22 minutes, 26 seconds to take first in the women’s 6K run at the 2010 Stanislaus Invitational in the school’s season-opening event.

Elhard’s first-place finish gave her the honor of being named the California Collegiate Athletic Association’s Female Runner of the Week. The run was also 26 seconds faster than twin sister Denali Foldager’s, which helped the Warriors to a team win.

“Rubye and Denali did a great job leading the (women’s) race,” Warriors coach Diljeet Taylor said.

The Warriors had the lowest team total to win with 36 points, as San Francisco State came in second with 48. Cal State East Bay was third with 57, while Fresno Pacific and the University of Pacific rounded out the team competition.

Three other Warrior women also finished in the top 12: Marina Ghabbour (10th, 24:02); Clarie Jenkins (11th, 24:11) and Lindsay Garcia (12th, 24:13).

 Stanislaus men take second 

The Stanislaus men’s cross country team also had a noteworthy showing at the Stanislaus Invitational on Saturday, taking second in the team competition behind San Francisco State.

Kanwar Dhaliwal was the top Warrior finisher after the sophomore and Pitman High graduate clocked a 27:19 in the 8K run to place seventh.

SF State took the team title after having five runners in the top 13 to score 27 points, which were 24 less than second-place Stanislaus. Fresno Pacific, Cal State East Bay and UC Merced came in third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

“It was a good season opener for us,” said Diljeet Taylor, the Stanislaus coach. “Both of our men’s and women’s teams were outstanding. We have two pretty young squads so these early races are especially important to help them gain experience to prepare us for the conference.”