McKINLEYVILLE — Running on their home course, Humboldt State's men's and women's cross country teams placed third and fifth in their respective races at the California Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships hosted at Beau Pre Golf Course on Saturday.
Chico State captured both titles, posting 33 points to UC San Diego's 84 in the
women's race. On the
men's side, the Wildcats eased to victory with 20 points to runnerup Cal Poly Pomona's 53. Humboldt State was solid in third with 75 points.
Eric Malain put together his best race of the season for HSU's men, placing 11th overall to earn all-conference recognition. Malain, who timed 25 minutes, 39 seconds over the 8K distance, led a great grouping of HSU men, with only 41 seconds separating the top five and only 10 seconds between the Jacks' second through fifth runners.
Austin Huff was the Jacks' No. 2 finisher Saturday, placing 17th in 26:11. He was followed closely by Luis Galacia (18th, 26:12), Drew Sylvester (20th, 26:19), and Nick LaPlant (21st, 26:21). The individual champion was Chico State's Jimmy Elam with a time of 24:50.
Galacia was the top finishing freshman, earning him CCAA Freshman of the Year honors. Sylvester, a sophomore who has been HSU's No. 1 runner most of the year, went out with the leaders, but was slowed by a side-stitch.
"That pack was outstanding," HSU head coach Sandy Moran said. "They're already looking at how we can move up more at the (NCAA Division II West Region) meet."
Megan Rolland paced the Jacks' women, placing seventh overall and earning all-conference honors. The senior from Emmett, Idaho was timed in 22:56 on the 6K course, just over a minute behind winner Vivian Wadeck of Cal State Los Angeles.
"Megan had a great race, and we had some other very strong performances," Moran said. "We're happy with taking fifth. We'll do even better when we get Bridget (Berg) back."
Berg, a freshman and the Jacks' No. 2 runner season-long, was held out of the race while she recovers from an injury. In her steady, Irene Graham pushed to a strong 25th place finish for HSU, with a time of 24:05.
Also scoring for the Jacks were Amanda Garcia, 31st in 24:11, Tess Dahlgren, 41st in 24:45, and Chelsea Schaefer, 59th in 25:26. Schaefer, also a freshman, ran solid despite being hobbled by an injury.
Twenty teams represented the CCAA schools in Saturday's meet, 12 on the women's side and eight for the men. The meet organization and course drew rave reviews from coaches and participants.
"I'm very happy with the comments I'm hearing about the course," Moran said. "This is a great place to run. I think everybody enjoyed it."