Results (PDF)
SEATTLE – The Cal State Fullerton men's cross country team recorded its best finish at the NCAA West Regional since 2006, while Sierra Ungerman and Emily Taylor paced the Titans women's team on Friday afternoon at Jefferson Golf Course in Seattle.
The Titan men, led by junior Jose Penaloza, finished 20th out of 30 teams and fourth out of eight Big West Conference teams with a total score of 574. For Fullerton, it was CSF's best finish since placing 17th in 2006 when the Regional was held in Portland.
"The conditions were unbelievable," head coach John Elders said. "There was a bad storm with rain and wind making the course very muddy. I can't remember anything like it in my 28 years for this meet."
Penaloza finished 65th (32:23.3) overall on the 10k course to lead the Titans out of 205 runners. It was an improvement for the Garden Grove, Calif., native, who finished 81st a year ago when the Regional was held at Stanford in 2014.
Penaloza led the Titan men across the finish line in each of Fullerton's six meets this season.
Following Penaloza, redshirt sophomore Joe Casco finished in 103rd with a time of 33:10.7. The Riverside, Calif., native has been Fullerton's second-place finisher in each of its last three meets.
Coming in third for Cal State Fullerton was senior Tim Reed in 115th place overall with a time of 33:37.5. Reed finished his senior with four meets placing in the top three for the Titans. Following Reed across the finish line was fellow senior Jeff Little (140; 34:05.0).
Freshman Sam Pimentel completed his first NCAA Regional in 162nd place with a time of 34:43.5, while junior Martin Montes was the sixth Titan to score in 166th place (34:45.7). Junior T.J. Moffit was Fullerton's seventh and final scorer in 187th place with a time of 35:38.9.
Host Washington (63) won the men's 10k, followed by fellow Pac-12 programs, Stanford (83), Oregon (99) and Washington State (125). UC Santa Barbara (184), in eighth place, was the top performing team from the Big West Conference. Edward Cheserek of Oregon was the individual winner in a time of 30:43.2.
On the women's side, the team finished 28th out of 35 teams with a total score of 743, and fifth out of nine Big West Conference teams.
Junior Sierra Ungerman finished 104th as the top Titan runner in a time of 22:20.7, closely followed by senior Emily Taylor's 111th-place finish in a time of 22:24.3. For Ungerman, it was the third time she has led the Titans in 2015, while for Taylor it was the sixth time this season she has finished in the Titan top three.
Freshman Stephanie Cortez finished third for Fullerton and 167th overall in a time of 23:10.0. For Cortez, it was her best finish among Titans. Finishing fourth for the Titans, junior Pamela Pelayo was 177th overall in a time of 23:19.2.
Junior Stephanie Ruiz was the fifth Titan runner to cross the finish line in 200th place overall in a time of 23:41.2 The sixth Titan to score was freshman Kevelin Huerta as she placed 204th overall in a time of 23:46.7 Junior Emily Ruiz was the seventh Titan to finish, 226th overall, in a time of 24:25.0
Oregon (79) was the first women's team to finish followed by Boise State (80), host Washington (105), Stanford (121) and San Francisco (182). Cal Poly was the top Big West team placing 13th with a total score of 344.
Allie Ostrander of Boise State was the top individual women's runner in a time of 20:10.9.
The NCAA West Regional is the final competition of the fall for the Cal State Fullerton men's and women's cross country teams.