Results (PDF)

ONTARIO, Calif. -- Cal State East Bay men's cross country took a monumental step forward as a program on Saturday with a fifth place team finish at the 2016 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championships. 

Since joining the conference in 2009, the Pioneers had never finished higher than last place at the Championship meet. On Saturday, this squad cemented an historic season by scoring 159 points and beating four schools in the nine-team field. 

Chico State captured its 15th consecutive championship, followed by Cal Poly Pomona in second, UC San Diego in third, and San Francisco State in fourth. All four teams ahead of East Bay are ranked in the top 10 in the West Region.

Before today, the Pioneers had never had a runner finish higher than 40th individually at CCAA Championships. Last year, their top runner placed 65th. This morning they had three of the top 40, and their top seven all finished in the top 60. Even more exciting is the fact that five of the runners who scored points for East Bay are freshmen.

In 2015, the program's first season under head coach Tony Nicolosi, freshman Israel Sotelo finished the CCAA Championships in 27:13, which was the fastest CCAA time ever by a Pioneer runner. This year, all seven of CSUEB's scoring runners (including Sotelo) finished in under 27 minutes. It's difficult to overstate how much the Pioneers have improved as program in 2016.

First-year phenom Pedro Cruz paced the squad on Saturday, finishing 29th overall and scoring 23 points with an impressive time of 25:47.3 on the 8k course at Guasti Regional Park. He was the third-fastest freshman in the entire field.

Junior Chris Lessard came up a bit short in his bid for conference Newcomer of the Year, but he ran a great race nonetheless to break 26 minutes at 25:57.6. He placed 35th overall and scored 26 points. Both Cruz and Lessard kept pace with several runners from Cal Poly Pomona and UCSD, two of the top-ranked teams in the nation.

Freshman Deion Molina took 40th and scored 30 points with a time of 26:08.3. He also ran an outstanding race and was crucial in helping the Pioneers overtake Cal State Monterey Bay for fifth place, finishing just ahead of three Otter runners. 

Freshman Leo Skellenger finished 51st and scored 39 points, crossing the tape in 26:38.0. He was followed closely by Sotelo and redshirt freshman Alberto Venegas, who ran together and finished less than a second apart. Sotelo took 54th place and scored 41 points in 26:49.5, while Venegas placed 55th and scored 42 points.

Freshman Christian Moncada was East Bay's seventh scorer with 45 points, finishing 59th overall in 26:55.8. Redshirt freshman Esteban Leon turned a strong performance as well to finish in 66th with a time of 27:16.4. Freshman Miguel Morales (28:18.9) and sophomore Jesus Leon (28:25.9) placed 77th and 78th to round out CSUEB's morning.

Today's meet was a tremendous accomplishment, but the Pioneers' work this Fall isn't done yet. The men will continue their remarkable season in two weeks at NCAA DII West Regionals, taking place in Billings, Mont.