Beau Gradone-Rogers entered his senior year in the best shape of his life and with lofty goals to finish his collegiate running career. So far, everything is falling neatly into place for the Watsonville native – last Saturday Gradone-Rogers delivered a ninth place finish and a personal best time of 24:33.72 in the 8k Willamette Cross Country Invitational to run away with Wildcat of the Week honors.
Following a 2008 cross country season that saw him win All-CCAA, All-West Region and All-American honors in his first year as a Wildcat, Gradone-Rogers has picked up where he left off in ’09, bettering his finish times in each of the three events in which he has participated. Gradone-Rogers finished third to open the season Sept. 12 at the Asics/UC Irvine Invitational, clocking in at 25:12.6, then posted a time of 25:02 Sept. 26 at the Stanford Invitational before shaving nearly 30 seconds off his time last weekend at the Willamette Invitational in Salem, Ore.
