Men's Cross Country | November 22, 2014

BILLINGS, Mont. — The Cal State Monterey Bay cross country teams capped the best seasons in CSUMB running history with their best–ever finishes at the NCAA Division II West Regional Saturday afternoon at Amend Park. The Otter men finished 12th in the 23–team field while the women finished 17th among 24 competing teams.

In his final race as an Otter, senior Ben Garland (Santa Cruz/Harbor HS) led the way once again, missing CSUMB's first NCAA Championship berth by just 14 seconds in a 23rd–place finish. Nevertheless, he did rewrite the Otter record book one final time, smashing his own 10K record with a time of 31:46.59, eclipsing the previous marking by more than 59 seconds.

If not for Garland's run, sophomore Connor Henderson (South Lake Tahoe HS) would be the new Otter record holder today after his time of 32:23.10 esclipsed the old mark by 22 seconds. And, if not for the performances of Garland and Henderson, freshman Caton Avilla (Wilton/Pleasant Grove HS) would hold the Otter 10K record with the 32:02.04 he posted Saturday.

On the women's side, junior Hannah Bell (Yorba Linda/Esperanza HS) ran the best NCAA Region 6K in Otter history and placed 31st overall in 22:29.89. She eclipsed the previous record of 22:38 set by Piper Delaney in Spokane, Wash. in 2011.

Senior Sara Dionne (Norwalk/Ghar HS) also finished in the top half of the field, placing 80th in 23:26.90, the third fastest 6K of her career.

Chico State won the men's race and will be joined at the NCAA National Championship meet by fellow CCAA competitor Cal Poly Pomona, which placed third. On the women's side, Simon Fraser took top honors while while CCAA members Chico State (2nd) and UC San Diego (5th) earned earned trips to the national championship meet.