2016 SEASON REVIEW: The 2016-17 cross country season was a special one for Cal State Fullerton men's and women's cross country as both squads combined for eight top-three finishes this year. Each team had a perfect combination of experience mixed with a steady dose of underclassmen who are making the future of Fullerton cross country as bright as ever.
On the women's side, seniors Sierra Ungerman and Stephanie Ruiz capped off their Titan cross country careers in a special way with Ungerman collecting four top-10 finishes this year, including a first-place finish (22:21.0) at the USD Invite on Sept. 17. Ruiz also had quite a senior campaign by finishing in the top-15 at three events and ran her best race of the year at the USD Invite as well with the Buena Park, Calif., native finishing fourth (22:28.0) to help the Titan women win the event.
Samantha Huerta and Sandra Flores made great first impressions in their first season as Titans with Huerta finishing in the top-10 at three events, including two-straight third place finishes in her first two collegiate races (Mark Covert Classic & USD Invite). Along with Huerta, Flores started the season strong with two top-15 finishes, including a ninth-place finish at the Mark Covert Classic.
Brianna Jacklin had a remarkable junior season for the Titan women as she had three top-10 finishes, including a fourth-place finish at the Mark Covert Classic (18:18.9). She also finished 16th overall at the Big West Championships in Hawaii. Stephanie Cortez, Arianna Fuentes, Kevelin Huerta, Pamela Pelayo, Nisreen Rizk and Emily Ruiz also competed this season for the Titan women.
For the men, senior leaders Jose Penaloza and TJ Moffit helped the Titan men collect five top-three team finishes at events this year as Penaloza recorded four top-25 finishes, including first and second place at the Mark Covert Classic (25:01.0) and USD Invite (25:33.0). Meanwhile, Moffit held his own in his final cross country season by finishing in the top-40 at three events.
Jason Hillquist and Sam Pimentel were models of consistency throughout the season with Hillquist claiming four top-15 finishes, including a 12th place finish at the Big West Championships which was the highest individual finish for a Fullerton runner in the men's event since 2006. Pimentel broke out in his sophomore campaign with three top-10 finishes and a 13th place finish at the Big West Championships. The Anaheim, Calif., native was the only Titan on the men's side to place in the top-10 at three events this year.
Redshirt junior Joe Casco made a significant improvement from last season with three top-15 finishes and a 22nd place finish at the Big West Championships. Casco's most impressive race was the NCAA West Regional where he jumped 28 spots from last year to place 75th and improve his time by almost two minutes (31:16.3).
Freek Van de Weerd, a true freshman, is one of the main reasons why the program's future looks so bright, as the Netherlands native finished in the top-30 at four of his five events over the course of the season. His best performance came at the Highlander Invitational where he placed seventh overall with a time of 18:14.59.
Gavin Bradley, Erick Juarez, Martin Montes, Danny Ramirez and Jorge Sanchez-Velazquez also competed this season for the Titan men.
YEARLY AWARDS: Coach John Elders awarded numerous players with end of the year accolades at the Titan cross country banquet just a few weeks ago. Joe Casco and Stephanie Ruiz were named most improved players after making significant jumps at the conference championships and NCAA Regional. The top newcomers for the Titans were Jason Hillquist and Sam Huerta who both had outstanding seasons with multiple top-three finishes among CSUF runners at events. Jose Penaloza and Brianna Jacklin both received the Coach's Award after overcoming injury and setting good examples for the team with consistent training. Lastly, Sam Pimentel and Sierra Ungerman were named the Fullerton cross country Athletes of the Year after remarkable seasons.
XC WOMEN CROWNED MARK COVERT CLASSIC CHAMPS: For the first time since 2007, the Cal State Fullerton women's cross country team took the crown at the Mark Covert Classic on Sept. 3.
The Titan women put together a complete team effort as five of them finished in the top-15 to collect a total score of 41 points, being only three points shy of the program-record (38 points) in 1987. Sam Huerta was the top-finisher for the Titans as she completed the course with a time of 18:12.9 to place fourth. Brianna Jacklin wasn't too far behind Huerta as she finished just six seconds after her (18:18.9) to place sixth among colleges. Sierra Ungerman, Stephanie Ruiz and Sandra Flores would close out the top 15 for Fullerton with the trio of runners completing the course within seven seconds of each other. Ungerman placed ninth (18:30.6), Ruiz was behind her with a time of 18:31.0 to place 10th and Flores finished the race in 18:37.3 to place 12th among schools.
On the men's side, the Titans earned a runner-up finish with a score of 61 at the Mark Covert Classic for the second-straight season as they destroyed their score from last season by 20 points. Jose Penaloza recorded his highest finish ever at the Mark Covert Classic as the junior placed first among colleges with a time of 25:01.0. Jason Hillquist also had a personal best by completing the course in 25:14.6 to place second among colleges and third overall to give Fullerton the top-two finishers among college runners.
TITAN MEN & WOMEN TAKE USD INVITE TITLE: The Cal State Fullerton men's and women's cross country teams won both the men's and women's events at the USD Invite, hosted by the University of San Diego on Sept. 17.
The Titan men got started first as Jose Penaloza finished second overall with a time of 25:33 to be the top-finisher for Fullerton. Sam Pimentel and Joe Casco joined Penaloza in the top-10 by completing the course in 25:50 and 25:58 to finish seventh and ninth overall. Fullerton's Freek Van De Weerd and Jason Hillquist made top-15 finishes at the event as well to give the Titans a total team score of 40 points and the USD Invite crown. Titans Gabe Toscano and TJ Moffit also placed well at the event finishing 18th and 28th with times of 26:23 and 26:48.
Following the men's event, the Titan women got their race underway at 9 a.m. and put up amazing times across the board with four runners completing the course in the top-10. Sierra Ungerman placed first on the women's side with a time of 22:21 and fellow Titans Samantha Huerta and Stephanie Ruiz didn't finish far behind the senior as they placed third and fourth. Brianna Jacklin was the other Fullerton runner to finish in the top-10 as she placed ninth overall with a time of 22:44. Freshman Sandra Flores clinched the race for the Titan women as she completed the course in 22:55 to finish 11th and give Fullerton its lowest meet score (28 points) since September of 2013. Arianna Fuentes and Nisreen Rizk placed in the top-30 for the Fullerton women as well.
TITANS COLLECT BEST FINISHES SINCE 1993, 2008 AT BIG WEST XC CHAMPIONSHIPS: On a rainy day in the beautiful state of Hawaii, the Cal State Fullerton cross country teams made the future look bright, as the Titan men placed third and the women finished fourth at the Big West Cross Country Championships on Oct. 29.
With the third-place finish, the men's squad marks its highest finish at the Big West Cross Country Championships since 1993. The Titan women collected their highest finish at the event since 2008 with a fourth-place finish.
Jason Hillquist was the top-finisher for the men as he elevated himself at the conclusion of the race by jumping two spots with a strong finish to place 12th overall with a time of 25:34.3. With the 12th place finish, Hillquist posted the highest individual place for a Fullerton runner in the men's event at the Big West Cross Country Championships since 2006 when Jordan Horn finished 10th overall.
Sam Pimentel was right behind Hillquist at the finish line as he finished 13th and completed the course in 25:37.9. Titans Jose Penaloza, Freek Van de Weerd and Joe Casco were the remaining top-25 finishers. Penaloza finished 18th overall (25:49.1) while the freshman Van de Weerd placed 20th overall with a time of 25:55.3 in his first appearance at the Big West Cross Country Championships.
Casco was the final Fullerton runner in the top-25 with a time of 25:58.9 to place 22nd overall and helped secure a third-place finish for the men with a team score of 83 points. The third-place finish is the best finish at the Big West Cross Country Championships for the Titan men since 1993.
On the women's side, Sierra Ungerman continued her incredible season with a remarkable 12th place finish in 22:20.1 at the Big West Cross Country Championships, which is the best individual finish by a Fullerton runner in the women's event since 2009. The senior finished strong toward the finish line as she moved up three spots from the second split to finished inside the top-15 for the fifth consecutive event this year.
Brianna Jacklin also finished inside the top-20 for the Titan women with a time of 22:35.3 to place 16th overall.
A trio of Fullerton runners finished in succession as Arianna Fuentes was the first to cross the finish line by placing 22nd with a time of 22:48.1. Stephanie Ruiz was the next Titan to complete the 6k course at the Kahuku Golf Course as she finished 23rd overall (22:49.7). Samantha Huerta had a strong showing in her first appearance at the conference championships as she jumped three spots in the end to place 24th (22:58.3).
The top five runners for the Titan women put together a team score of 97 to place fourth, which is their best finish at the Big West Cross Country Championships since they tied for fourth in 2008.
TITANS IMPRESS AT NCAA WEST REGIONAL: 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.
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, Calif., native moved up 31 spots from last year's finish and records the best place by a Titan in the women's event at the Regional since 2009.
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.
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.
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. 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 them.
LONGEST-TENURED COACH: As the 2016 season enters its final stages, cross country and track and field head coach John Elders concludes his 29th season at the helm of Fullerton cross country program making him the longest tenured head coach in the history of Cal State Fullerton. Elders was tied with former fencing head coach Heizaburo Okawa (1982-2006) and former men's soccer coach Al Mistri (1981-2005) for 25 years of service at Fullerton. The Orange County, Calif., native is coach of cross country, women's indoor track and field, and men's and women's outdoor track and field.
Follow the Titans!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) Instagram (FullertonTitans) and Snapchat (FullertonTitans). In addition, the cross country has established its own Twitter (@FullertonTFXC), Instagram (@csuftrackandfield) and Facebook page (Cal State Fullerton Track & Field & Cross Country).