The Stanford men dominated the field at the Sacramento State Open, finishing in first place with six of the top seven collegiate finishers.

Sacramento State finished third (83) between UC Davis, second (42), and San Francisco, fourth (92).

Track and cross country director Kathleen Raske said the goal of the team coming into the race was to beat USF who Sac State lost to twice this year.She also said the team’s goal is to work together as a team, saying that it is better to run in a pack than out by yourself. She also said it is easier to communicate and encourage each other.

Looking forward to the Big Sky Championships where they finished last in 2003, the Hornets will go up against one of the top cross country schools in the nation in Northern Arizona.

Raske said the team is hoping for everyone from one to seven to have their best races. This will be needed to have any chance in the team events.”When it counts the most, we want everyone to step up together,” Raske said.The race was shortened from 8k to 5k because of poor air quality conditions caused by area forest fires.

As a result, the pace was much faster, but the course was still tough and fairly hilly, Raske said.

She said the smoke cleared up from the morning, but they didn’t want to tax the runners so close to conference.

On the women’s side, Davis took first place (21) with four of the top five finishers, followed by USF (38) and Sac State coming in third (83) ahead of Fresno State (116).

The Hornets were not at full strength in the race with Lucy Roberts and Sara Wolf out of the race. Raske said the results of the Golden Gate Open were more indicative of the type of race that the team is capable of running.

They came in third of six teams in that race.

Raske said the girl’s team has come a long way since the beginning of the year, and because of inexperience every race is a new experience for them.

“The program is moving in a positive direction,” Raske said.

The men’s race ended with Sac State’s Kyle Hasapes running towards the line, trailing the next runner by over 2 1/2 minutes, with chants and encouragement coming from teammates as he limped his way to the line.

Hasapes was suffering from shin splints that obviously affected his running.

“In order for me to go to conference, I had to finish seventh (on the team),” Hasapes said. “About a mile in I knew I couldn’t do it, but I wanted to finish.”

“He’s a tough kid — gutted it out, everything you want in a cross-country runner,” Raske said.

She also pointed out that there is a fine line between being tough and looking down the road at the health of the runner.

Hasapas is in his first year of cross-country after playing football last year at The College of the Desert near Palm Springs.

He said he didn’t know what to make of the injury when it happened and just kept running on it about five weeks ago.

Hasapes said the idea of quitting crossed his mind, but he didn’t want his season to end on that note.

“I’d rather finish than dropout,” he said.