Men’s and Women’s cross country result

The Sacramento State cross country teams held their own on Saturday amongst a tough field of college teams, and competitive club teams in the Aggie Classic at the University of California, Davis.

The Hornet women finished third overall and the men finished fifth, with each team having individual standout performances.

On a day when the temperatures soared over 90-degrees, the women’s team raced on a flat, five-kilometer course around the Davis campus.

The Hornets were led by senior Melissa Madeson who placed third with an overall time of 18 minutes, 24 seconds. Among the collegiate athletes, Madeson finished only 19 seconds behind the winner of the race, Allegra Porter of Saint Mary’s College.

“I am just happy to be running,” said Madeson, who is still recovering from a knee injury that sidelined her for a year-and-a-half. With fierce determination and hard work, she has paved the way for an impressive season.

Madeson has helped her team to finish in the top-ten of each race this season. Her senior teammates, Jennifer Burkhalter and Molly Peterson, came in 14th and 17th-place respectively, with times of 18:44 and 18:57.

“My goal for this season was to have five women running under nineteen minutes, and we already have three,” Hornet coach Joe Neff said. “Annette Corey is really close to breaking the 19-minute mark, and if Angela Mercado’s sore knee heals, we will be close to our goal.”

Freshman Tom Getchell led the way for the men’s team with a time of 26:32, and a 14th place finish over the eight-kilometer course. A local standout, Getchell graduated from Del Campo High School.

“The difference between running high school and collegiate cross country is the intensity level we practice at,” said Getchell, who hopes to improve his times by staying focused and more importantly staying healthy.

Getchell’s teammate, Cuco Chavez, knows all about the importance of staying healthy. The senior was unable to participate this past weekend due to chronic soreness of his achilles tendon.

Neff plans to also hold Chavez out of next weekend’s race at Stanford if his injury does not improve by Friday.

Getchell, as well as senior Jacob Mills and sophomore Ben Morales are ready to fill Chavez’s shoes next weekend.

Saturday’s race at Stanford will host some of the best teams in the country, including highly ranked Oregon, Wisconsin, and Arkansas.