San Jose’s Lupe Palalia, 39, and Santa Cruz’s Irene Abfalterer, 23, earned wins at the inaugural Santa Cruz Marathon on Sunday.
Palalia finished ahead of 802 runners in 2 hours, 39 minutes, 16 seconds.
Runners started in front of the iconic Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, headed south through seaside streets to Capitola Village, before turning back toward Santa Cruz. They pushed further north, tackling the rugged trails of Wilder Ranch State Park, before heading south with sweeping ocean vistas culminating with a finish near Main Beach.
San Jose’s Lupe Palalia crosses the finish line at Cowell Beach on Sunday to win the inaugural Santa Cruz Marathon. He finished in 2 hours, 39 minutes, and 16 seconds. (Raul Ebio – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Burlingame’s Nick Kovaleski, 37, took second in 2:46:44, and Santa Cruz’s Guillermo Diaz Lankenau, 36, took third in 2:56:29.
Abfalterer was the first woman to cross the finish line. She did so in 2:58:57, good for fourth overall.
Los Altos Hills’ Lauren Sand, 31, was fifth overall and second among the women in 2:59:58. Sacramento’s Beverley Anderson-Abbs, 62, took third in 3:24:05.
Redwood City’s Antoan Dimitrov, 28, took first in a field of 2,575 runners in the half marathon. Santa Cruz’s Gina Jacobs, 35, was the women’s winner.
Dimitrov finished in 1:14:48 and Jacobs finished in 1:24:08.
Zachary Doran, 36, of Albuquerque, took second in 1:16:43, and Menlo Park’s Peter Littlefield, 39, was third in 1:18:08.
Soquel’s Alan Quintero was the top local male. He took sixth in 1:19:09
Santa Cruz’s Mackenzie Guzman, 28, took second among the women in 1:24:20, 12 seconds behind Jacobs. Los Altos’ Tonya Piergies, 29, took third in 1:25:06.
San Jose’s Gonzalo Garcia, 25, and Redwood City’s Rachel Okun, 30, earned wins in the 5K race, which featured 445 runners.
Garcia finished in 19:39. Santa Cruz’s Skyler Remillard-Williams, 27, took second in 20:02. Okun was third overall in 20:48. Modesto’s Ozzy Ruiz, 14, took fourth in 20:53.
Andressa Bez Andy, 34, of Curitiba, Brazil, took second among the women in 22:25, and Fairfield’s Christy Bailes, 55, was third in 24:20.
Santa Cruz’s Sarah Abroff, 43, was the top local female in 27:58, which placed her 11th among the women and 39th overall.
Skyler Williams of Santa Cruz wins the 5K race during the inaugural Santa Cruz Marathon at Cowell Beach on Sunday. (Raul Ebio – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Tracy Pearson, left, and Erin Brandon, both of Santa Cruz, finish the inaugural Santa Cruz Marathon at Cowell Beach on Sunday. (Raul Ebio – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Gina Jacobs of Santa Cruz was the top female in the half marathon race during the inaugural Santa Cruz Marathon at Cowell Beach on Sunday. (Raul Ebio – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Rachel Okun of Redwood City was the female in the 5K race during the inaugural Santa Cruz Marathon at Cowell Beach on Sunday. (Raul Ebio – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Jessica Morten of Watsonville finishes the 5K race during the inaugural Santa Cruz Marathon at Cowell Beach on Sunday. (Raul Ebio – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Antoan Dimitrov of Redwood City wins the half marathon race during the inaugural Santa Cruz Marathon at Cowell Beach on Sunday. (Raul Ebio – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Alexander Martin Jr. of San Leandro is celebrated by his family after he finished the inaugural Santa Cruz Marathon at Cowell Beach on Sunday. (Raul Ebio – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Nathan Lorilla of Redwood City relishes completing the inaugural Santa Cruz Marathon at Cowell Beach on Sunday. (Raul Ebio – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
San Jose’s Lupe Palalia crosses the finish line at Cowell Beach on Sunday to win the inaugural Santa Cruz Marathon. He finished in 2 hours, 39 minutes, and 16 seconds. (Raul Ebio – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
With a large group of supporters behind him, Michael Larscheid of Carlsbad finishes the half marathon on his 80th birthday during the inaugural Santa Cruz Marathon at Cowell Beach on Sunday. (Raul Ebio – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
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Skyler Williams of Santa Cruz wins the 5K race during the inaugural Santa Cruz Marathon at Cowell Beach on Sunday. (Raul Ebio – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
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Women’s soccer
UCSC 3, at Whittier 0: The Banana Slugs posted their seventh shutout of the season and extended their unbeaten streak to eight matches on Sunday.
Susanaitzel Juarez-Mancera finished off a pass from Cassidy Segrell in the ninth minute, and Kirsten Li assisted a pair of goals in the second half, setting up Alex Torres in the 63rd minute and Madeline Puente in the 65th.
Banana Slugs goalie Ainsley Gove made three saves over 74 minutes and teammate Tyler Beaman didn’t face a shot on goal over the final 16 minutes. Sofia Lopez made five saves for the Poets (4-12-1).
UCSC (9-3-1) plays at California Lutheran (13-1-3) in Thousand Oaks on Tuesday at 11 a.m.
FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup: Team USA, featuring local defenders Georgianna “Gigi” Zuniga of Watsonville and Cassandra “Cassie” Travers of Santa Cruz, suffered a 2-1 loss to China to close group play at FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Morocco 2026 in Salé, Morocco, on Sunday.
China PR (3-0-0) took first in Group E and Team USA (2-1-0) was second. Both advanced to the Round of 16.
Team USA faces Spain on Thursday at 11 a.m. The match will air on FS2, Peacock, and Telemundo Deportes.
In the loss to China, Maddie DiMaria scored for the Americans in the 69th minute to knot the score at 1-all, and teammate Ortiz Isa produced the final goal 7 minutes into stoppage time.
Reporting Scores
Coaches are encouraged to report scores and highlights to sports@santacruzsentinel.com following games. Please include your name and contact number in the email.