Madison, Wis. – Jose Piña finished in 17th place to pace the San Jose state men's cross country team to a 16th place finish at the 2018 Wisconsin Pre-Nationals, one of the most prestigious cross country races on the calendar.
"The men's performance was similar to our women's team," head coach Brad Wick said. "We were on the cusp of beating some really good teams and we beat some Power-5 schools, which is always nice, and schools some in our area."
The Spartans totaled 447 points to slot into 16th place. BYU won the team competition with a gaudy 29 points.
Piña stopped the clock in 24:07.9. It's the third race in a row the junior has lowered his season-best time.
"Jose did a really nice job," Wick said. "He put himself up there in the lead pack, held strong, had a good finish and did a great job leading the team in a really tough race."
A pair of seniors, Craig Huff and Huruy Zeratsion, were the next two Spartans to cross the line. Huff ran a 24:48.3 and finished in 62nd place. Zeratsion was in 106th place in 25:07.3.
Finishing less than a second apart Luis Chavez and Charlie Pope were the last to Spartans to score. Chavez was 130th in 25:19.0 and Pope, who ran his fastest race of the year, was 132nd in 25:19.9.
Edgar Bonilla was 154th in 25:38.3 and in 204th place Evaristo Mateo stopped the clock at 26:28.5, a season best.
"Overall, I thought the guys ran tough," said Wick. "I like where we are at this point in the season. We've got a month left to compete and we haven't peaked yet which bodes well for us at the Mountain West Championships in a couple of weeks."
Individually, BYU's Rory Linkletter won the race in 23:54.4. Aidan Tooker of Syracuse was second in 23:54.9 and San Francisco's Chris Olley was third in 23:54.9.
Not making the trip to Madison but competing at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational in Sunnyvale, Javier Ubaldo ran a 26:32.3 and finished in 161st place.
The Spartans next competition will be on October 26 in San Diego, Calif., in the 2018 Mountain West Championships.
2018 Wisconsin Pre-Nationals
Saturday, 13 October 2018
Madison, Wisconsin
Final Results – White 8k
Team Results (Top-10 of 34)
1. BYU (29 pts.)
2. Washington (106 pts.)
3. Syracuse (195 pts.)
4. UCLA (205 pts.)
5. Norte Dame (220 pts.)
6. Air Force (231 pts.)
7. Purdue (234 pts.)
8. Indiana (298 pts.)
9. Portland (322 pts.)
10. Washington (326 pts.)
16. San José State (447 pts.)
Individual Results (Top-5)
1. Rory Linkletter (BYU) – 23:54.4
2. Aidan Tooker (Syracuse)– 23:54.9
3. Chris Olley (San Francisco)– 23:54.9
4. Conner Mantz (BYU) – 23:55.5
5. Clayson Shumway (BYU) – 23:55.7
San José State Results
17. Jose Piña – 24:07.9
62. Craig Huff – 24:48.3
106. Huruy Zeratsion – 25:07.3
130. Luis Chavez – 25:19.0
132. Charlie Pope – 25:19.9
154. Edgar Bonilla – 25:38.3
204. Evaristo Mateo – 26:28.5