The Tritons women’s and men’s cross country teams are coming into the home stretch of the 2004 season strong, taking second and third, respectively, at the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships hosted by Cal Poly Pomona on Oct. 23.

The women’s side earned a second-place finish out of 10 teams on the 3.7-mile course. Junior Mimi Hodgins placed first for the Tritons at 20 minutes, 38.7 seconds, giving her a sixth-place finish overall.

Freshman Diane Dunn and Junior Michelle DiMeo took ninth and 10th places at 20:54.50 and 20:55, respectively. Chico State earned first place with the top-five finishers, giving its team a perfect score of 15.

Five UCSD women earned All-CCAA honors for their scores. As the first freshman finisher, Dunn received CCAA Freshman of the Year honors. Also, freshman Jessica Laslovich and junior Lindsey Young came in at 13th and 15th place, respectively, for which they each earned All-CCAA honors.

The men had a great 4.5-mile run, coming in third right behind Chico State and Cal Poly Pomona. Daniel Rojas of Cal Poly Pomona finished first. The Triton leader, senior Robert Eap, finished 11th with a time of 22:59.90, followed by junior Carl Lostrom with 23:19.90, both gaining two All-CCAA honors.

Freshman Mitchell Steves, junior Chris Beetley-Hagler, freshman Abdullah Jamali and junior Luke Sigmon finished in a pack, taking 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th, respectively.

On Nov. 6, the UCSD cross country team will be competing at the NCAA Division II West Regional meet, hosted by Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. If the teams qualify, the runners will advance to the NCAA Division II National Championships at Southern Indiana University on Nov. 20.