The men’s and women’s cross country teams are headed to the Big West Tournament which will be held in Riverside this Saturday to compete against some of the best the conference has to offer.

In the upcoming Big West races, the men will compete in an eight-kilometer race, while the women will compete in a six-kilometer race. There will be nine participants from each team, with the first five finishers counted towards the school’s total score.

The Gauchos have a lot to build off of after last week’s Titan Invitational meet in Fullerton. The fastest Gaucho in the race was freshman Jackson Bright who placed 16th, finishing with a time of 25:26. As a team, the men finished third in the invitational behind CSU Stanislaus who placed second and Cal Poly who led the field taking first place.

The UCSB women’s team struggled in the race as well, with the top-placing Gaucho in the women’s five-kilometer being sophomore Rebekah Ent, who finished 30th with a time of 19:25. The UCSB women finished last as a school in the overall rankings, behind LMU, UC San Diego and UCLA.

Cal Poly is the defending champion in both the men’s and women’s races, but the UCSB men’s team looks to be just as impressive this year, boasting a healthy and talented squad whose numbers have been comparable to that of the Mustangs.

The men’s race is set to begin at 8:30 a.m. and the women’s race will begin shortly after at 9:15 a.m. this Saturday in Riverside.