Cuesta Men's Cross Country opened the 2025 season without defending CCCAA State Champion Weston Greenelsh and their seven-man team finished 5th in the seven-team Tour de Cuesta on the Fairbanks Cross Country Course.  Newcomer Jeff Mendonca led the Cougars by finishing 12th overall with a time of 24:22.5. He was just five seconds ahead of teammate and returning all-WSC Harrier John-Paul Walsh (24:27.7) and 13 seconds of first-year Harrier Anthony Frere (pict) in 15th place (24:35.5).  The rest of the Cougars cleared the finish line in a four-man pack.  Freshmen Alex Schindler led the list in 28th (26:62.4) with Oscar Allen completing the Cougars' scoring team one-second later, while Freshman Colton Baker and Sophomore Aiden Gibson finished 30th and 31st, respectively.  Freshmen Ivan Behr and Elliot Ernest crossed two minutes behind the scoring team and crossed the tape in 38th and 46th out of the 51 finishers. 

The Cougars hope to be at full strength next Friday (10:45) for the Bulldog Invitational, hosted by Allan Hancock, at the Elks Rodeo Grounds in Santa Maria.