Published 2008-11-01T00:00:00Z”/>

Bobby Mouren-Laurens

The men’s and women’s cross country teams continued their tradition of winning as both teams took first place at the California Collegiate Athletic Association Cross Country Championship in San Bernardino over the weekend.

The men made their seventh-straight title after dominating the seven-team field and finishing with eight runners in the top 10 of the 8-kilometer race.

“It feels awesome to win seven in a row,” senior Danny DiMeo said. “It just shows how strong we have become and have the depth to compete year in and year out.”

Chico State men completed the podium sweep with senior Scott Bauhs’ 25-minute-23.4-second-first-place run, narrowly edging teammate Brendan Scanlon by four-tenths of a second. Fellow Wildcat Angel Marquez finished four seconds later at 25:27.8 to place third.

Beau Rogers, Jordan Fairley, Alan Campos and Manny Mejia led the next group of Wildcats, finishing fifth through eighth, respectively.

The women’s team placed six runners in the top 10, and all 10 of the Wildcat runners finished in the top 20 of the 6-kilometer race.

Led by fourth-place finisher Tori Tyler with a time of 22:03.3, Wildcats Kara Lubieniecki, Alia Gray, Shannon McVannel, Stephanie Consiglio and Shannon Rich followed in a row.

The men’s team posted an overall score of 17 points, 55 points better than second-place UC San Diego. Cal Poly Pomona, Humboldt State and Cal State Stanislaus rounded out the top five.

On the women’s side, a score of 30 sealed the victory, Cal State L.A. and UC San Diego followed.

Ten runners from each school competed in the race and only the top-five scores counted, the lowest score won. Points are accumulated by the order each runner finishes.

Bauhs’ first-place finish earned the Wildcats a point and Scanlon earned two. DiMeo joked after the race that neither runner even seemed tired.

DiMeo had to ask them to “at least pretend to be breathing hard,” he said.

Bauhs’ individual title was his third this year. He has won every race he has entered. The top 15 finishers from both races earned all-CCAA honors.

Next up for the teams is the regional competition Nov. 8 at UC San Diego. The men and women hold the No. 1 rankings in the West Region.

The men’s race will be extended to 10-kilometers for the regionals.

“We train hard and for longer distances to prepare for a tough 10K,” men’s head coach Gary Towne said.

Each team will enter seven runners in each race, in which the top five scores count.

The biggest competition on the men’s side is University of Alaska Anchorage. Five Kenyans pace the University of Alaska Anchorage and they are closely behind Chico State in the rankings.

To qualify for nationals, the men’s team must finish in the top three and women’s in the top five.

“We treat it no differently than any other meet, it’s basically a steppingstone to nationals,” Bauhs said.

Bobby Mouren-Laurens can be reached at<a href= “mailto:[email protected]”>[email protected]</a>