The Long Beach State cross country team withstood the rain to take part in the Big West Conference Championships on Saturday morning.
The women’s team collected a third-place finish in the 6,000-meter race after collecting 72 points in the nine-team race at UC Riverside’s Agricultural Operations Course.
The 49ers were paced by junior Rosa Del Toro, who finished with a personal best of 20:56.6 and in ninth place overall. LBSU senior Jennifer Rodriguez came in 11th (21:04.5) and was followed by teammate Lenore Moreno in 12th (21:09.6). Both runners set personal-bests with their times in the race.
UC Santa Barbara took home its second consecutive team title with 35 points to finish just ahead of Cal Poly’s 37. The Gauchos had three runners place in the top three spots, including individual champion Amanda Moreno.
The senior was the only participant to finish the course in under 20 minutes, with a course-record time of 19:57.0.
LBSU junior Alisa Barajas crossed the finish line in 18th after recording a time of 21:22.2. Teammate Nina Moore finished in 22nd with a time of 21:28.8. Prism Garcia (50th), Veronica Franco (58th) and Kelly Caulfield (60th) rounded out the 49ers’ finishers.
The 49er men earned a fourth-place finish on Saturday in the 8,000-meter, eight-team race with a total score of 76. The team title went to UC Davis for the first time, while the Aggies Jon Peterson earned the individual crown with a time of 23:40.2.
The ‘Niners were paced by junior Matt Maldonado’s time of 24:27.2, which earned him fourth place overall.
Sophomore Bret Hasvold came in eighth place with a time of 24:37.1, while fellow 49er Josh Ruff came in 11th after posting a time of 24:41. Both runners earned personal-bests with their times in the 8,000-meter race.
Heath Reedy (26th), Steven DeCastro (27th), Jared Long (31st) and Andrew Garcia (38th) were the other 49ers to finish the race.
The Beach will travel to Springfield, Ore., for the NCAA West Regional for its next meet.
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