Results (PDF)

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. -- It was an historic day for the Cal State East Bay women's cross country team at Cal State San Bernardino, as the Pioneers turned in their most successful performance at California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championships in their 10 years as members of the conference.

CSUEB raced to fifth place in the team standings, the highest in program history. It's only the second time the Pioneers have ever placed higher than ninth, besting the previous high of seventh in 2016. They beat seven schools in the 12-team field and ended up just 10 points behind fifth-place Cal State San Bernardino, which was competing on its home course.

Individually, East Bay was led by Cecilia Carretero, who continued her phenomenal senior season by notching a historic effort of her own. She placed seventh overall to record the highest individual finish in program history and become the first CSUEB female to earn All-CCAA honors (with a top-15 finish) since 2014. Carretero completed the 6k course in 21:45.1, about 14 seconds off the school record time she set earlier this Fall.

"I'm so happy for Ceci," said head coach Tony Nicolosi. "We have known she's capable of incredible things. To get the highest finish in program history at her final conference championship meet is truly a special achievement. Hopefully we can keep it going, and she can extend her season past the Regional."

Sophomores Claire Fisher and Angelina Ronquillo finished right next to each other in 27th and 28th place, posting nearly identical times of 22:55.2 and 22:55.6, respectively. Ronquillo performed admirably in her first championship meet, while Fisher displayed her impressive growth, moving up more than 40 positions from a 72nd-place finish as a freshman at last year's conference championships.

Senior Katherine Embody ran an outstanding race to finish as CSUEB's fourth scorer in 38th place, completing the course in a lifetime best time of 23:10.6.

The fifth contribution to the team score came from freshman Alex Cholometes, who competed officially for the first time this season and made a big impact, placing 65th in 24:02.0. She ran with junior Alondra Castro Ortiz, who finished right behind her in 66th place with a time of 24:02.7.

Junior Brittney Duquette took 74th place, crossing the finish line in 24:14.8. She was followed by freshman Amanda Navarro, who ran well in her first championship race to 79th place with a time of 24:52.4. Sophomore Caitlin Amburgey rounded out a memorable morning for CSUEB by finishing 100th in 27:06.8.

"We have dealt with some setbacks in the last few weeks, and this team has handled it tremendously," Nicolosi commented. "It's hard to be upset about the best finish in program history. These women fought a hard battle and did not give up. It's excited to have a solid showing like this, but we know we still have work to do to get ready for Regionals."

The Pioneers have two weeks to prepare and get healthy before taking on the cold temperatures in Billings, Mont. at the 2018 NCAA Division II West Regionals, which will determine the team and individual qualifiers for the NCAA Championship meet.