Coming off an impressive first-place finish at the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship, the UCSD women’s cross country team remained at the top of its game, placing second at the NCAA Division II Cross Country West Regional Championship on Nov. 5 in Chino Hills, Calif.

With the stellar finish, the women will move on to the NCAA National Championships on Nov. 19.

The Triton men’s team, which also participated in the West Regional Championship, wrapped up its season with a seventh-place finish.

The Triton women finished with 62 points, 20 less than Chico State, which also placed second to the Triton women at the league championship two weeks ago.

The women’s team finished a sizable 67 points ahead of the third-place team, Alaska Anchorage University, thanks to the top-five Triton sprinters all finishing among the top 20 overall runners.

Senior Mimi Hodgins followed her CCAA Championship victories with the NCAA West Regional title. Hodgins finished first in a field of 146 runners with a time of 21 minutes, 59.80 seconds, beating the second-place finisher from Chico State by 2.1 seconds.

Hodgins improved on her finish in the West Regional race from last year, moving up from 15th place in 2004.

Senior Erin O’Donnell was the second-fastest Triton woman, finishing in seventh overall with a time of 22:30. Following O’Donnell for UCSD was sophomore Emily McGregor, who finished in 15th overall with a time of 23:04.50.

Senior Michelle DiMeo finished in 19th place overall with a time of 23:28. Rounding out the top-five Triton finishers was junior Nina Miller, who, hot on DiMeo’s tail, finished only half a second later. The duo finished with times of 23:28.1 and 23:28.6, respectively.

The No. 25 Triton men posted a seventh-place finish to end their 2005 season. Chico State won the men’s NCAA West Regional title and Cal Poly Pomona placed second. Alaska Anchorage finished in third to win the final NCAA National Championship spot.

Freshman Gabriel LaMothe was the fastest Triton for the men’s team, finishing in 38th place. His time of 34:37.20 was only two seconds faster than senior Carl Lostrom, who came in 39th, a disappointment after his 26th-place finish last season.

Freshman Jake LeVieux finished third for UCSD, and in 40th overall, with a time of 34:39. Fellow freshman Matthew Noble followed in 43rd place, with a time of 34:42. Junior Dan Holligan was the last of the scoring Triton men, his time of 34:54 earning him 47th overall.

Seniors Chris Beetley-Hagler and Luke Sigmon ended their UCSD cross-country careers with 56th- and 59th-place finishes, respectively. Beetley-Hagler finished in 35:07, 28 seconds faster than Sigmon’s 35:35.

This is the second year in a row that the men’s team has failed to qualify for the NCAA Division II National Championship. Its last visit was in 2003, where it finished 17th.

The Triton’s 197-point score this year was down from last year’s fourth-place finish, which was just shy of qualifying for a spot in the championship race.

The women’s team will travel back to the course at Chino Hills on Nov. 19 to participate in the NCAA National Championship, the fourth consecutive visit for the fifth-ranked team. It placed 17th in 2002, 16th in 2003 and came in 17th place again last year.