SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco State men’s cross country team placed 11
th out of 20 teams on Saturday, finishing with 314 points at the 2009 NCAA Division II West Region Cross Country Championships at Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park. Freshman
Brian Trejo (Glendale, Calif., Hoover HS) was the top Gator runner in the 10,000-meter race, placing 48
th with a time of 33:40.2, nosing out junior teammate
Ryan Raya (Torrance, Calif., Torrance HS), who took 49
th with a 33:40.4 effort.
Mark Cheseto of Alaska Anchorage, who finished ninth at the 2008 Division II national meet, came away with the individual prize on Saturday with a winning time of 30:42.5, comfortably ahead of Western Washington’s Jordan Welling, who landed in the runner-up spot with a 30:59.4 clocking, while Cheseto’s UAA teammate Micah Chelimo took third at 31:05.6 in the field of 131 student-athletes.
Meanwhile, Chico State boasted the next three placers as the troika of Brent Handa (fourth, 31:07.8), Jimmy Elam (fifth, 31:11.4) and Beau Gradone-Rogers (sixth, 31:16.4) propelled the Wildcats to the team title with 42 points. Western Washington (74points) and Alaska Anchorage (96 points) also reserved their spots in the NCAA Division II Championships, Nov. 21, in Evansville, Ind., as the top three men’s teams advance to the national meet. In addition, Western Oregon’s Chris Reed (eighth, 31:26.1) and Barak Watson (11th, 31:39.8) of Northwest Nazarene also punched their ticket to the Hoosier State in two weeks, as the top two runners from non-advancing schools qualify for the NCAA Championships as well.
Other Gator competitors from Saturday included junior
Kyle Fujitsubo (Rancho Murietta, Calif., Sheldon HS), who finished just behind Trejo and Raya in the 51
st position with a time of 33:51.0, followed by freshman
Samuel Cuadra (South San Francisco, Calif., El Camino HS) (82
nd, 34:56.3) and fellow classmate
Brandon Jauregui (Santa Clarita, Calif., Saugus HS) (88
th, 35:19.1). Rounding out the SF State contingency were juniors
Jon Flores (Carson, Calif., Redondo Union HS, El Camino College) (96th, 35:42.6) and
Max Fernandez (Huntington Beach, Calif., Edison HS) (99
th 35:51.3).
Complete Men's 10K Results