Nov. 13, 2015
SEATTLE -- The San José State University men's cross country team had its best finish at the NCAA West Regional Championships since at least 2003 by placing 14th out of 30 teams. The previous best finish was last year when the Spartans finished 18th.
"All the runners finished nicely as they battled to get every point possible. The pace of the race got away from us slightly at the start where we got too far back in the pack," said Spartans cross country coach Brad Wick.
Jose Piña led the charge for the Spartans, finishing 67th out of 205 runners with a time of 32:24.2 over the muddy 10K course drenched by the Pacific Northwest rain. It was the third time the freshman led the Spartans this season.
"Jose picked through the runners ahead of him and finished strong," said Wick.
Junior Ben Branagh was the second Spartan to cross the line finishing 74th, nine seconds behind Piña.
Senior Jannik Ernst edged out teammate Josue Gonzalez by nine-tenths of a second to finish third on the Spartans in 32 minutes 49.1 seconds. Ernst finished in 86th place, similar to last year's 84th place showing. Gonzalez, a sophomore, improved his placement to 87th after finishing 145th last year.
Sophomore Craig Huff rounded out the scoring for the Spartans in 99th place at 33:06.4, improving on last year's 101st place finish.
The 42.2 second spread between the Piña and Huff, the lowest and the highest scorer was pleasing to the third year coach.
"The 42-second spread, especially over 10K is really good. It shows they ran strong as a team," said Wick.
The Spartans edged out #13 and #14-ranked West Regional schools Arizona State and Saint Mary's (Calif). San José State was ranked regionally in the top-15 throughout the season.
The University of Washington took the team championship honors as Edward Cheserek of Oregon won the individual championship in 30 minutes 43.2 seconds.
NCAA West Regional Championships Men's Cross Country 10K Run Jefferson Park Golf Course, Seattle, Wash. November 13, 2015 | ||
TEAM RESULTS | TOTAL SCORE | |
1. Washington | 63 | |
2. Stanford | 83 | |
3. Oregon | 99 | |
4. Washington State | 125 | |
5. Boise State | 137 | |
6. California | 146 | |
7. UCLA | 163 | |
8. UC Santa Barbara | 184 | |
9. Portland | 200 | |
10. Gonzaga | 253 | |
11. San Francisco | 273 | |
12. Cal Poly | 344 | |
13. UC Davis | 389 | |
14. San José State | 409 | |
15. Arizona State | 422 | |
16. Saint Mary's (Calif.) | 489 | |
17. Loyola Marymount | 535 | |
18. Eastern Washington | 551 | |
19. Santa Clara | 562 | |
20. Cal State Fullerton | 574 | |
21. UC Riverside | 635 | |
22. Seattle U. | 647 | |
23. Long Beach State | 692 | |
24. Fresno State | 712 | |
25. UC Irvine | 725 | |
26. Portland State | 774 | |
27. Pepperdine | 779 | |
28. Sacramento State | 805 | |
29. San Diego | 831 | |
30. Cal State Northridge | 882 | |
TOP INDIVIDUALS | SCHOOL | TIME |
1. Edward Cheserek | Oregon | 30:43.2 |
2. John Whelan | Washington State | 30:54.9 |
3. Michael Willams | Washington State | 31:05.4 |
4. Travis Neuman | Oregon | 31:07.8 |
5. Tyler King | Washington | 31:08.1 |
SAN JOSÉ STATE FINISHERS | TIME | |
67. Jose Piña | 32:24.2 | |
74. Ben Branagh | 32:33.3 | |
86. Jannik Ernst | 32:49.1 | |
87. Josue Gonzalez | 32:50.0 | |
99. Craig Huff | 33:06.4 | |
120. Huruy Zeratsion | 33:41.9 | |
126. Raul Rodarte | 33:49.4 | |