Results
SPOKANE, Wash. – Competing against a large and strong field of competitors that included ranked teams and Division I squads in both the men's and women's races, the Cal State East Bay cross country teams turned in a pair of quality performances at the Erik Anderson Invitational on Saturday. Racing against more than 20 teams on both sides, the Pioneer women finished 17th in a field of 26, while the men finished 23rd out of 25.
For the third straight meet, Tiffany Duffy paced the East Bay women, finishing 50th overall and 47th among attached racers. Duffy clocked a season-best time of 23:21 on the 6k course and beat out more than150 other runners.
Duffy wasn't the only Pioneer runner to set a new top time for the 2011 campaign, as four other East Bay finishers notched a season best in Spokane. Amanda McNabb followed Duffy's lead, finishing in 23:43 to place 79th overall, while Gabriella Cruz crossed in 24:17 to finish 115th in the field of more than 250 racers. Cruz' time was not only her season best but also a new personal record in the 6k event.
Megan McDaniel's new top time of 24:34 was good for 130th overall and 117th among attached runners and Nastassia Hamor set a new season standard with a time of 25:02. Freshman Kaitlyn Smith rounded out the Pioneer contingent in the women's race, clocking a time of 25:30.
The Pioneer women all finished within five minutes of individual winner, Ruby Roberts of Division I Washington State. The Cougars placed five of six runners in the top 10 to also capture the team title with a score of 21 points. Second-place Gonzaga finished more than 90 points behind Washington State, while Western Washington was just 20 points behind the Bulldogs in third place, recording the best finish by a Division II squad.
Chris Gallagher led the way for the Pioneer men for the second straight week, crossing the line in 26:57, taking over a minute off his 8k time from last week. Gallagher's time was good for 129th overall and 109th among attached competitors in a field of over 240 racers and gave him a new season-best time, as well.
Joel Becker followed Gallagher, finishing in 28:18 to improve more than two minutes from last week's performance. Crossing less than 30 seconds later was
Erik Rodriguez, who clocked a time of 28:45.
Scott Pallesen came across in 29:13, taking exactly a minute off his pace from last weekend at Mills College.
John Vergara rounded out the East Bay squad with a time of 37:06.
Division II and fourth-ranked Colorado School of Mines captured the team and individual titles on the men's side, beating out Gonzaga by nearly 70 points. The Orediggers' Sean Gildea took home the win, completing the course in 24:03 and averaging a 4:48 mile throughout the race.
Cal State East Bay returns to action on Oct. 1 when it travels to Santa Rosa for the CCAA Preview Meet, hosted by Sonoma State. The meet will feature several conference squads and will be held at the course where CCAA Championships will be held on Oct. 22. The meet is set for a 9 a.m. start for the women's 6k and a 10 a.m. start for the men's 8k at Spring Lake Regional Park.
