Sacramento State sophomore Annette Corey’s eighth place finish at19 minutes, 31.20 seconds carried the women’s cross country team to a 2-1 record in dual-meet action at the Eastern Washington Invitational Saturday.

The men’s team did not fare as well with a 0-3 record.The women’s team beat host school Eastern Washington University (26-29), Portland State University (25-36) but fell to the University of Montana (16-43).

“I was very pleased with the women’s team,” head cross country coach Joe Neff said. “It was a big improvement.”

The men’s team was lead by senior Cuco Chavez’s 19th place finish (26:56.00). The Hornet men’s team lost all three of their matches by large margins. Their losses came against host school Eastern Washington (47-16), Montana (50-15), and Portland State (36-20).

“I thought the men ran well, but they are struggling without three of their top runners,” Neff said.

The men’s team competed without senior Dustin Diaz, who is out with a shoulder injury; senior Eric Mencarini, who is out with personal reasons; and junior Jacob Mills, who is red shirting. All three runners are expected to miss the rest of the season.

The women’s team is missing junior Melissa Madeson, who is out for the season with a knee injury. Madeson was expected to be one of the top runners this season for the Hornets.

Corey has been the top runner for the Sac State women in the last four meets. Her ninth place finish last week at the University of San Francisco Invitational earned her Big Sky Conference Runner of the Week honors.

Following Corey across the finish line for the women’s team at Eastern Washington were sophomore Molly Peterson (12th place, 19:42.10), sophomore Tina Limon (15th place, 19:57.10), junior Sara Swan (20th place, 20:07.50), junior Jennifer Burkhalter (22nd place, 20:14.30) and Amy Cockerham (25th place, 20:17.30).

Burkhalter was out with an illness last week for the meet in San Francisco but finished in the top five among Hornet women for the first time this year. She is also a sprinter on the track team.

Following Chavez for the men’s team were junior Mike Santarosa (32nd place, 27:40.60), sophomore Dustin Beauchamp (37th place, 28:09.70), junior Tony Elwell (45th place, 28:32.60) and freshman Bobby McNeil (51st place, 28:59.30).

“Cuco Chavez is running real well. He is just going to get better and better,” said Neff.

The Eastern Washington Invitational was the Hornets first and only look at Big Sky competition before the Big Sky championships in two weeks.

“I think we are really well prepared for the conference championships,” Neff said. “It was really good for us to see the competition in this meet.”

Neff has tried to get his team in peak, physical shape for the conference finals by scheduling meets every other week. He hopes this strategy will keep his teams’ legs fresh in the finals.The Big Sky Conference Cross Country Championships will be held on Oct. 27th at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington.