Results (PDF)

BILLINGS, Mont. -- Cecilia Carretero capped off her tremendous senior season with a historic performance Saturday morning at NCAA Division II West Regionals, capturing All-Region honors to lead the Cal State East Bay women's cross country team to a 15th place finish out of 29 teams.

For the Pioneers, this marks the program's highest finish at the NCAA meet since re-joining Division II a decade ago. Despite freezing temperatures and a light blanket of snow on that ground at Amend Park, it was a fitting end to an outstanding Fall for the CSUEB women.

Carretero took 21st place individually, the highest finish by an East Bay runner in the CCAA era. She crossed the finish line with a 6k time of 21:45.14, not quite as fast as her school record from earlier this season, but easily the fastest time by a Pioneer at NCAA Regionals this century. 

With a top-25 finish, the Modesto native is the first CSUEB female to earn All-West Region honors in that same time span, just two weeks after becoming the first since 2014 to capture All-CCAA honors. This was unquestionably the most decorated season for an East Bay cross country runner in the period since re-gaining DII membership, and it may not be over yet, as there's still a chance Carretero could be selected to compete at NCAA Championships. 

"We have our fingers cross for Ceci," said head coach Tony Nicolosi. "I'm hopeful she will get into Nationals -- it will be very close. But regardless, she had one of the finest seasons in the history of the program."

CSUEB's impressive team finish required strong efforts from others as well. Sophomore Claire Fisher was the team's No. 2 finisher, just as she was at CCAA Championships, taking 58th place in 22:28.25. She was followed by Angelina Ronquillo in 76th place, who navigated the chilly course in 22:46.59.

Fellow sophomore Caitlin Amburgey ran well in her first Regional meet for the Pioneers, turning in a time of 23:13.93, which was good for 103rd place as the team's fourth finisher.

The fifth contribution to the team score came from junior Andrea Romero, who capped off a breakout season with a 116th place finish in 23:31.92.

Senior Katherine Embody finished off her cross country career with 144th place overall, crossing the tape in 24:27.82. She was followed closely by freshman Alex Cholometes in 148th place with a time of 24:34.17.

"These women battled a lot of adversity the last month of the season, and we had several people step up today and give great efforts," Tony Nicolosi commented. "This reion is very tough, and the margin for error is so small. This was a terrific season, and we have a lot to build on for next year."