Backed by impressive individual performances, the UCSD men’s and women’s cross country teams placed third at the California Collegiate Athletic Association championships held at UCSD on Oct. 21. The meet marked the teams’ last race before they compete in the regional championships on Nov. 4.
The women’s cross country team finished third behind powerhouses Chico State and Cal State Los Angeles at the CCAA championships in the 6k race on Oct. 21.
The Chico State Wildcats dominated the meet, comming away with both the men’s and women’s championships.
Chico State’s top men took first, second and third place while their top women took first, second and fifth. It was the men’s team fifth straight championship and the women’s fourth in five years.
“It was a little surprising how fast they raced, but we always expect [Chico State] to have a strong showing,” junior captain Diane Dunn said.
In addition to the Wildcats’ dominant performances, Chico State head coach Gary Towne was also awarded the Most Valuable Coach of the Year awards for both the men’s and women’s teams.
Although the UCSD men’s team did not place as high as it had hoped, freshman Max Mullender broke into the top 10, placing sixth in a race stacked with strong runners from Chico State.
“I’m happy with [the results],” Mullender said. “What we expected to do on an OK day was to hopefully beat [Cal Poly Pomona], but we’ll get them at regionals.”
The Triton men finished 61 points behind Chico State and 32 points behind Cal Poly Pomona, with the winning time of 25 minutes, 44.9 seconds coming from Chico State senior Charlie Serrano.
The Triton women were not able to defend their 2005 CCAA championship, but they placed third behind good races from Dunn and senior Nina Miller. Dunn and Miller placed fourth and sixth, respectively.
“[Dunn and Miller] did a really nice job working through the course together,” assistant coach Nate Garcia said.
Dunn’s finish was a much-welcomed improvement from past years.
“I’m happy about how I finished,” Dunn said. “For the past two years, I’ve finished ninth and I wasn’t about to repeat that.”
In addition to placing sixth, Mullender received the Freshman of the Year award, decided by the coaches of the seven CCAA teams.
“I was surprised,” Mullender said. “I expected [freshman Jessie Morrill] to get the award.”
Mullender’s finish was the highest out of all freshmen racers. Morrill also had a strong race, placing 17th for the Tritons.
“Max really stepped up and engaged with some of the better runners in the country,” Garcia said. “He handled the race very well.”
With the regional championship meet coming up in less than two weeks, both teams have their sights set on competing in the national championships. For the women, that would mean a finish in the top four at regionals. For the men, the road to the national championships is a little more difficult.
“We’re looking to improve on our seventh-place finish from last year,” Garcia said. “It’s a little tougher to make it since we need to be in the top three for the men.”
Despite these difficulties, Mullender is confident of the team’s chances.
“The season’s gone great,” Mullender said. “We have a great young team with most of our top runners having sophomore eligibility. We plan on qualifying for nationals.”
The NCAA Division II West Regional Championships kick off on Nov. 9 in Chico, Calif., and Garcia is satisfied with his teams’ progress in anticipation of the meet.
“We understood that it was going to be a challenge,” Garcia said. “We had some really good battles and we’re happy with the way the team showed tenacity and commitment … it’s a really good stepping stone to our next meet, the regional championships.”
