By Felix Oliveros— Staff Writer
After a strong showing in Sunnyvale just over two weeks ago, the San Jose State men’s and women’s cross-country teams met their match at the Mountain West Conference Championships, with both teams placing seventh in their respective meets.
The race hosted Utah State, Wyoming, Boise State, Colorado State, Air Force, Nevada, Fresno State, UNLV and New Mexico.
New Mexico placed first overall in the women’s race with a score of just 31 and an impressively small spread of just 31 seconds. Utah State came out victorious in the men’s race, keeping their score at a mere 42.
In a race that head coach Brad Wick said is arguably the best distance conference in the nation, the Spartans came into Utah looking for more.
Despite having an outcome they hadn’t hoped for, there were still strong performances.
For the women, senior Jennifer Sandoval continued to lead her teammates in the women’s 6k race. She crossed the finish line eighth out of 88 runners, with a time of 20:29.2. Which is her best time of the season.
Seniors Savannah Perez and Camila Hanson, and sophomores Mikayla Akers and Evelin Meza, rounded out the scoring for the women’s squad.
On the men’s side, Jose Piña led the way as he has most of the season. The senior ran his second best time of the season, coming in at 24.09.5 and placing 31st out of 71 runners.
Sophomore Luis Chavez, senior Edgar Bonilla, freshman Klaus Quinonez, and junior Evaristo Mateo also all scored for the men’s team.
A select group of Spartan runners will have to recover and prepare themselves to compete in the NCAA West Regional Meet in Colfax, Wash. on Nov. 15.
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