By Estevan Vargas (@estevan_va) – Spear Reporter | (Photo courtesy of SJSU Athletics)
San Jose State’s men’s and women’s cross country competed in the Mountain West Conference Championships on Oct. 31.
Both of the men’s and women’s teams didn’t get the outcome they were expecting, finishing last in each race but there was a lot that the Spartans could take from it.
The men’s team finished the 8k race in 12th place with a score of 300 and a total time of 2:10:54.
The first two Spartans to cross the finish line was junior Alexander Walker who came in 71st place with a time of 25:38, followed by junior Will Bujake who finished 72nd with a time of 25:39.
After them, freshman Joel Nickerson finished 78th (26:07), freshman Brandon Wofford (26:26) finished 81st.
The last three Spartans finished with sophomore Diego Cortes coming in 85th place (27:01), then sophomore Rowan Henige came in 87th and clocked a 27:11 time.
Junior Cristian Lopez was the last to finish for the Spartans coming in 90th place with a time of 28:30.
For the women’s 6k event, they finished 12th as well with a total time of 1:59:40 and a collective of 370 points.
Junior Amanda Chalburg led the women and was the first to finish for SJSU with a time of 22:23, coming in 74th place.
The rest of the Spartans finished later on in the race. Senior Isabella Arreola came in 96th place (23:44).
SJSU had back-to-back finishes with junior Nereyda Alvarez-Gonzalez finishing 101st and freshman Elizabeth Scott 102nd.
Alvarez-Gonzalez had a time of 24:19, and Scott finished with 24:22.
The last three Spartans finished all together as well. Sophomore Gabriella Hernandez finished in 105th with a time of 24:50.
After her, sophomore Malia Seki came in 106th and had a time of 25:42.
The last Spartan to finish was Jocelyn Martinez who had a time of 26:57 and came in 107th closing out SJSU’s season.
SJSU head coach Charmaine Darden spoke on the team’s performance on the season.
“Overall, I’m very proud of these student athletes and what they did,” Darden said. “Now that the season is over, we’re going to take a rest and then get ready for track and field.”
Despite a tough finish, the Spartans are focused on growth and improvement as they look ahead to next season with renewed motivation.
