SPOKANE, Wash. — San Diego Cross Country placed ninth in both the men's and women's West Coast Conference Championship races Saturday in Spokane.
Each of the women's top five runners finished among the top-75 of racers.
The Toreros finished ahead of LMU, Seattle U, and Pepperdine in the league meet with 258 points. Freshman Clare Boneau led the way for USD in the 6K race, finishing 42nd in 22:07.6.
Lizzie McVey (59th),
Brooklyn Hom (63rd),
Camryn Kozak (67th), and
Nathalie Green (73rd) rounded up the scoring contingent for the Toreros, all finishing within 27 seconds of each other. USD's top finisher last time out, sophomore
Quinn Nelson, did not finish this time around, having to tap out around one mile in.
"The women raced well considering we lost one of our top runners early," said head coach Will Guarino. "The message was sent, and it was all hands on deck. Claire held our top position and ran one for us. The strong move came from our pack of Camryn, Lizzie, and Nathalie.
"We wanted more, but I was proud of the group."
Graduate student Jake Coleman was the top finisher again for the Torero men's team, placing 57th overall in the 8K with a 25:35.3 time. He fronted the Toreros' 280 points.
"Jake raced well considering he has not run much for the last two and a half weeks," said Guarino. "I was so glad he raced and led the men."
Freshman Maxwell Gibbons came up big for USD, placing 69th in 26:36.4, while Jack Devries (72nd), Michael Ivory (76th), and Athony Lenzini (77th) rounded out the scoring.
"Jack, Max and Michael were critical as they too united as a pack and began to pick runners off," said Guarino.
The Toreros will be back in action in two weeks on Nov. 14, as they travel to Sacramento, Calif. to take part and hope to extend their postseason at the NCAA West Regionals at Arcade Creek.
