Women's Results (PDF)
Men's Results (PDF)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Cal State Fullerton men's and women's cross country teams made a little history at the NCAA West Regional on Friday afternoon at the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex as both squads finished 15th overall to record their best finishes since 2004.
"It was a tough race out there today, but I thought both the guys and gals gutted it out and performed pretty well," coach John Elders said. "The gals really ran really well as a team while Joe Casco and Jason Hillquist both ran really strong races for the guys as Casco ran hard and Hillquist really had a strong finish."
With the 15th place finish, both squads collect their best finish at the West Regional since 2004 while also shattering their finishes from last season. The Titan women leaped 13 spots and the Titan men jumped five spots from 2015.
The ladies got the day started and Sierra Ungerman once again led the way for the Fullerton women as she was the top-finisher with a time of 21:18 to place 78th overall.
Ungerman's performance was quite impressive as the Anaheim native moved up 31 spots from last year's finish and records the best place from by a Titan in the women's event at the Regional since 2009.
Sam Huerta capped off her first season with Fullerton in style as she was the second Titan to cross the finish line with a time of 21:33.6 to place 93rd overall. Brianna Jacklin didn't finish too far behind her teammate as the junior placed 99th overall (21:36.8) to put three Titans in the top-100.
Fullerton's Arianna Fuentes and Stephanie Ruiz rounded out the team score for the women's squad as Fuentes finished the tough course with a time of 21:40.6 (106th) while Ruiz finish four spots behind with a time of 21:44.6 (110th) to give the Titans a team score of 477 to place 15th overall.
The Titan women finished third at the Regional among Big West schools as only Cal Poly (10th) and UC Santa Barbara (14th) placed ahead of the Fullerton ladies.
Sandra Flores and Pamela Pelayo also competed at the Regional for the Titans as Flores finished in 22:18.5 (153rd) and Pelayo completed the race in 23:11.0 (199th).
On the men's side, Sam Pimentel was the top-finisher for the Titan men (31:08.5, 70th) as he became only the third Fullerton runner in the men's event at the West Regional to place in the top-70 since 2006, joining teammate Jose Penaloza who placed 65th in 2015 and former Titan Jordan Horn who placed 38th in 2006.
The sophomore, Pimentel, jumped up 92 spots and improved his time by more than three minutes from last year's NCAA West Regional.
Titan Joe Casco also made quite the improvement from last season with a 75th place finish in 31:16.3. The junior moves up 28 spots from last year's finish and accelerated his time by almost two minutes.
After being the top-finisher for Fullerton at the Big West Championships, Jason Hillquist continued his strong season by completing the course in 31:38.1 to place 85th. Jose Penaloza, last year's top-finisher at the Regional for the Titans, finished two spots behind Hillquist in 87th with a time of 31:40.1 which put four CSUF runners in the top-100.
Freek Van de Weerd finished his freshman campaign with Fullerton with a time of 32:14.2 (116th) to give his squad a team score 428 and secure the programs best finish at the Regional since 2004.
The Titan men also finished third among Big West schools at the NCAA West Regional with Cal Poly (9th) and UC Santa Barbara (14th) being the only conference teams ahead of Fullerton.
Danny Ramirez and Jorge Sanchez-Velazquez also placed at the Regional for the Titans as Ramirez finished the course in 32:31.2 (132nd) and Sanchez-Velazquez ended his freshman season with a time of 33:21.3 (164th).
For more information and updates on the CSUF men's and women's cross country squad, follow us on Twitter (@FullertonTFXC) and like our Facebook page (Cal St. Fullerton Track & Field & Cross Country).