Out of a field of eight conference opponents, which included nationally ranked Chico State, the Triton men finished in third in the 8k race, while the women took fourth out of twelve teams in the 6k.
Once again, sophomore Chia Chang led the Triton women. Chang took a seventh place overall finish, with a 21:34.8 time — just 27 seconds off top finisher Alia Gray, from Chico. UCSD freshmen Dani Brabender and Alia Bales finished second and third respectively for the Tritons, with Brabender recording a 22:08.8 time and Bales finishing with 22:35.7.
Collectively, the Triton women put together a fair performance, but were still unable to touch No. 4 nationally ranked Chico State, which had two top five finishers.
“Our whole group went into the race with strong goals,” head coach Nate Garcia said. “We weren’t disappointed with the results as much as we were disappointed that we didn’t meet the goals that we set for ourselves.”
The men’s team also had a respectable showing, finishing in third place with a number of Tritons recording very solid times.
Junior Matt Lenehan led the Tritons at thirteenth place, running the 8k in 26:32.9.
The race marks the third consecutive time that Lenehan, who garnered All-CCAA honors, has finished first for the Tritons.
The rest of the Triton team took the 20th through 23rd spots, with sophomore Kellen Levy — who recorded a 26:44.8 time — finishing just before teammates Ben Rich, Jeremy Riley and John Svet.
As with the women, Chico State had the top finisher in Adrian Sherrod. The Wildcats also claimed five of the top six spots.UCSD will now gear up for the postseason and the West Regional Championships, to be run on Nov. 5.
“Looking ahead to Regionals, we want to beat some teams that beat us this week,” Garcia said. “We have to finish in the top four in a very strong region. We will have some work to do.”
The event will be held in Spokane, Washington at Plante’s Ferry Regional Park. UCSD is familiar with the course, as it kicked off the 2011 season at the Erik Anderson Runner’s Soul Invitational, which took place at the same location and ended with the Tritons taking two top seven finishes.
