MONMOUTH, Ore. — The Cal State East Bay cross country teams put forth another strong performance this weekend, as both the men and women earned fourth place at the Mike Johnson Classic hosted by Western Oregon. 

On a unusually warm day in the Pacific Northwest, Pioneer head coach Tony Nicolosi acknowledged the weather conditions were a factor on the course.

"It was the hottest day we've had to race in some time," said Nicolosi. "It affected the whole race. It affected everybody."

On the women's side, CSUEB earned 129 total points in the 6K to finish well ahead of host Western Oregon (150), as well as seventh-place Alaska Fairbanks (164).

Junior Chase Worthen led the Pioneers for the second-straight meet to begin the season, crossing the finish line 14th overall among collegiate runners with a time of 23-minutes, 1.6-seconds.

Freshman Kimberly Lima crossed the finish line in 23:41.0 to place 24th, junior Amanda Navarro took 26th place in 23:42.8, junior Leza Cassidy earned 29th with a time of 23:51.1 and junior Melissa Sosa was 36th (24:22.6).

"We ran great," said Nicolosi. "It's a veteran team in terms of age, but not in terms in races run.

"When we come back in November (for NCAA West Regionals) it should give us confidence.

The East Bay men also had a big day with a fourth-place finish in the 8K, as the Pioneers' 151 points edged host Western Oregon (154) and trailed only first place and No. 24-ranked Simon Fraser (30) among Division II teams.

Senior Luke Calubayan paced CSUEB with a 16th-place finish for the second-consecutive meet behind a time of 25:53.9, with freshman Miles Worthen taking 26th after crossing the finish line in 26:21.2.

Sophomore Sebastian Garcia was one of the team's biggest bright spots on Saturday according to Nicolosi, as the Bakersfield native earned 28th place with a time of 26:34.9. 

Sophomore John Robert Bradshaw was 39th (27:07.6) and freshman Dylan Shubert was 42nd (27:21.2) to round out the day for the Pioneers.

"(Garcia) ran the race of his life," Nicolosi said. "If he doesn't do that, we're significantly further down in the standings. It was unreal.

"Going into weekend, knew wanted to be second Division II team at worse. Today doesn't hurt anything as far as our postseason chances."

Up next, both East Bay teams will compete in the Sacramento State Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 2.