The men’s team placed eighth out of 22 teams competing, while the women placed 14th out of 26 teams. The meet was held in Bellingham, Wash., at the home course of Western Washington University.
“I really feel like we ran a great race,” head coach Nate Garcia said. “We didn’t get exactly what we wanted out of it place-wise. But those teams that beat us were, in all honesty, just better than us on the day.”
The men were led by redshirt senior Jesse Morrill, who placed 26th overall after completing the 10k course in 33:10. The Tritons then had a pack of runners come in together, as UCSD had five runners within 12 spots of each other. Sophomore Matt Linehan and junior Patrick French were next across the line, finishing 48th and 49th with times of 33:53 and 33:54, respectively. Freshman Kellen Levy came in just behind at 33:56 to take 51st place, while junior Alex Corliss took 53rd place with a time of 34:04 to round out the Triton scorers.
Despite not qualifying for nationals, Garcia said he was happy with the Tritons’ performance.
“I was pleased with the way the guys performed,” Garcia said. “We put ourselves in position to matter throughout the race, which is something we’ve been focusing on all year. We were able to get out in good position and work together really well. We were pleased with our effort, even if not overjoyed with the final score.”
Alaska Anchorage thwarted Chico State’s bid for a ninth consecutive West Region title, as the Seawolves had the overall winner and three runners in the top seven. Marko Cheseto covered the course in 31:20 to beat out Western Washington’s Jordan Welling, who finished in 31:29. Alaska Anchorage finished with 49 points, Chico had 54 points and Western Washington took third place with 93 points.
On the women’s side, UCSD was led by sophomore Catherine Crisp’s 52nd place finish as she covered the 6k course in 24:41.
“The performance from Catherine Crisp was great,” Garcia said. “It’s something that she has been working hard towards all year, so its satisfying to see her move up into the top 60 in the region.”
Redshirt sophomore Heather Hisgen was next across the line, placing 62nd with a time of 24:49. Junior Aaryn Kobayahshi, sophomore Jackie Sikkema and junior Kathryn Turner were the rest of the Triton scorers, finishing in 66th, 74th and 78th place, respectively.
Alaska Anchorage completed its sweep of the meet with a strong performance, taking three of the first five spots. The Seawolves finished with 40 points, Chico again took second with 55 points and Western Washington again placed third with 111 points.
Western Washington’s Sarah Porter was dominant in taking the individual title, coving the course in 21:21 — almost 40 seconds faster than anyone else.
The Tritons will return 13 of the 14 runners that ran in the NCAA Regional meet for 2011, although top men’s finisher Morrill will be replaced.
Readers can contact Liam Rose at [email protected].
