Oct. 28, 2016
Boise, Idaho - Sophomore Jose Pina had an 11th place finish and earned second-team All-Mountain West Conference honors at the 2016 Mountain West Conference Cross Country Championship on Friday morning.
Piña is the first Spartan to earn cross country all-conference designation in the four years San José State has competed in the Mountain West.
"Jose ran great today," said head coach Brad Wick. "From the start he was with the top guys and stayed in the mix for the entire race. He really ran to his potential."
Piña's time was 24:23.1. Craig Huff was the second SJSU runner to cross the finish line. His 24:59.4 was the 27th fastest in the field. Ben Branagh was 42nd (25:22.5) and Huruy Zeratsion was 51st (25.50.5). Josue Gonzalez ran a 26:00.2 (55th place) and Raul Rodarte came home in 27:04.4 (63rd place).
"Craig (Huff) did a good job for us," Wick said. "He was up and down, but overall had a solid race. Ben (Branagh) and Josue (Gonzalez) were a bit off. I really expected both to be right up there, but it didn't happen. It really shows what a fine line the scoring is in our sport."
With 169 points, San José State finished in seventh place for the Championship.
"We probably left 60 points out there," added Wick. "We'll use this result to our advantage in two weeks at (NCAA) Regionals (in Sacramento, Calif.)."
With a race winning time of 23:48.8, Boise State's Yusuke Uchikoshi earned Mountain West Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year. Luke Beattie, of Utah State, finished in 35th place in 25:12.0 to earn Mountain West Freshman of the Year honors. Boise State's Mountain West Men's Cross Country Championship earned its head coach Corey Ihmels Mountain West Coach of the Year honors.
Boise State totaled 41 point in its win, followed by Colorado State (48 points) and Air Force (61 points). Utah State (131 points) and New Mexico (138 points) rounded out the top five.
2016 Mountain West Cross Country Championship
Falcon Crest Country Club - Kuna, Idaho
Men's 8k Results - October 28, 2016
Team Results
- Boise State (BSU) - 41 pts.
- Colorado State (CS) - 48 pts.
- Air Force (AF) - 61 pts.
- Utah State (US) - 131 pts.
- New Mexico (NM) - 138 pts.
- Wyoming (WY) - 162 pts.
- San José State (SJ) - 169 pts.
- Fresno State (FS) - 244 pts.
Individual Results (Top-10)
- Yusuke Uchikoshi (BSU) - 23:48.8
- Jerrell Mock (CS) - 23:57.5
- Michael Vennard (BSU) - 24:00.7
- Dillon Maggard (US) - 24:08.1
- Jacob Bilvado (AF) - 24:12.6
- Andrew Johnston (AF) - 24:13.2
- Matt Dorsey (AF) - 24:13.7
- Miler Haller (BSU) - 24:14.0
- Anthony Laurita (CS) - 24:14.6
- Grant Fischer (CS) - 24:16.3
San José State Results
| 11. | Jose Piña - 24:23.1 |
| 27. | Craig Huff - 24:59.4 |
| 42. | Ben Branagh - 25:22.5 |
| 51. | Huruy Zeratsion - 25:50.5 |
| 55. | Josue Gonzalez - 26:00.2 |
| 63. | Raul Rodarte - 27:04.4 |
Athlete of the Year
Yusuke Uchikoshi (BSU)
Freshman of the Year
Luke Beattie (US)
Coach of the Year
Corey Ihmels (BSU)