MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY FIFTH, WOMEN SIXTH AT BIG SKY CHAMPIONSHIPS
10/29/2011
POCATELLO, Idaho — The Sacramento State men's cross country finished fifth and the women were sixth at the Big Sky Conference Championships, Saturday at the Centennial Course.
The men were led by junior Mark Frazier who ran 26:18.65 over the 8K course to place 18th. Frazier's finish was the eighth best in school history. Sophomore Cole Younger was just four seconds behind, running 26:22.66 to place 20th. Sophomore Reesey Byers ran 26:49.39 to finish 28th and Luke Frazier was 29th with a time of 26:54.47.
"This was an extremely challenging course," Hornet cross country coach Scott Abbott said. "You were either going up or down which didn't allow you to get into any sort of rhythm. It was also cold (in the 30s), windy and the altitude wore you down.
"With all that, we had some good performances. To have Mark and Cole both finish in the top 20 was great. Mark had one of the best finishes at altitude in school history and Cole was right behind him. Reesey's been battling an illness all week and also provided a blue-collar effort."
Mitchell finished 14th, narrowly missing out on all-Big Sky honors. The junior ran 18:37.33 and her placing was the ninth best in school history. Sophomore Veronica Stinnett finished 21st with a time of 19:09.78. Breanna Lewis ran 19:36.28 to place 32nd and McKenzie Paul posted a time of 19:50.83 to place 38th. Justine Rea provided the final time for the team score, running 20:06.62 to finish 38th.
"Rachel had a great run," Abbott said. "She was up towards the from for most of the race and was able to battle all the elements. Veronica also had a very good performance and so did Branna Lewis who's been fighting a knee injury."
Northern Arizona and Weber State dominated the men's race, accounting for seven of the top eight finishers. NAU finished first with 26 points while the Wildcats scored 42 to place second. Montana State (86), Montana (122) and Sacramento State (131) completed the top five.
Diego Estrada cruised to the individual title, running 24:15.43 and finishing 23.09 seconds ahead of teammate Jordan Chipangama.
In the women's race, Weber State held off host Idaho State for the team championship. The Wildcats scored four points and were led by individual winner Amber Henry. The team also had athletes finish fifth, sixth, 13th and 15th.
ISU was second with 50 points while NAU (82), Montana State (89) and Montana (116) trailed behind. Sacramento State scored 139 points.
The Hornets will continue their regular season next week at the Doc Adams Invitational hosted by UC Davis. The final regular season meet of the year will come at the NCAA West Regional at Stanford on Nov. 12.
WOMEN'S RESULTS (6K) TEAM RESULTS
1. Weber State 40
2. Idaho State 50
3. Northern Arizona 82
4. Montana State 89
5. Montana 116 6. SACRAMENTO STATE 139
7. Eastern Washington 192
8. Northern Coloardo 215
9. Portland State 273
INDIVIDUAL TOP FIVE
1. Amber Henry, WSU, 17:30.50
2. Bradi Hutchison, ISU, 17:43.52
3. Kortnee Burton, NAU, 17:46.96
4. Heather Haug, MSU, 17:52.02
5. Sarah Callister, WSU, 17:56.92
