Sacramento State’s cross country teams got a taste of what their seasons will look like when they hosted the Hornet Jamboree Invitational at Granite Regional Park in Sacramento on Saturday.

Both the men’s and women’s teams ran hard in their second race this season on the dusty, rolling hill course, ultimately placing second in the invitational.

“This is really our first test to see where the teams lie in terms of fitness,” Coach Rodney Rothoff said before both races. “I’m excited to see how both the men’s and women’s teams do.”

Led by sophomore, Dominic Vogl, the men’s team began as a pack and kicked into the finish with Vogl running the 8K race in 25:10, placing 10th.

Colin Szehner finished at 25:35 taking 14th, Danny Carlson finished in 17th with 25:53 and Jose Garcia finished 18th at 25:58.

“I did set a personal record, which spells good things for later in the season,” Vogl said. “As a team, we’re pretty satisfied with what we did. Our top five worked as a pack, and we’re working on being closer and stronger.”

The men’s team faced Brigham Young University which, according to Rothoff ranks 11th in the nation, and took first in the invitational with all seven runners finishing in the top 10.

“They were predictable,” sophomore Danny Carlson said. “We stuck as close to them as possible in a pack.”

Rothoff was pleased with the men’s performance as a team.

“This was a lifetime best for our first four runners,” Rothoff said.

San Francisco took the 3rd place spot, followed by Notre Dame de Namur.

Kristina Holtz strode into an 18:49, 2nd place finish in the 5K race for the Hornet women’s team, followed by Erin Wachter at 19:18 in 11th, Kathryn Cunningham clocking a 19:36 in 16th, and Grecia Garcia at 19:57 in 18th place.

San Francisco State University took first place as a team with Jennifer Hartford winning the race at 18:30, while the team’s first six runners finished in the top 10, Sac State in 2nd, Fresno State in 3rd and Nevada in 4th.

“I think we did really well,” sophomore Kristina Holtz said. “Our goal was to stay with the pack and to go with that the first mile. I think everyone ran very strong.”

The University of Nevada beat the women’s team two weeks ago, so the women’s team had its sights set on them.

“I tried to push myself up the hill and we watched Reno. We tried to get as many of them as we could,” Wachter said.

Coach Rothoff said he wasn’t sure exactly who would make up the top-five runners on the team, but is happy with the results.

“I would have liked to see us run closer together, but we’ll get better in two weeks,” Rothoff said. “We have to get closer together.”

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Michael Stockinger can be reached at [email protected]