The Sacramento State cross-country team is hosting the third annual Hornet Jamboree. The event takes place on Saturday at Granite Regional Park.

 

The Hornet Jamboree is an event that features talented collegiate and high school teams from around the nation.

 

The Sac State men’s team won the event last year while the women finished in third.

 

The outcome of the event is important to assistant coach Scott Abbott, but the overall success of the Jamboree is also a high priority, he said.

 

“We want to put on a first-rate event that promotes a high level of competition,” Abbot said, “and that’s a nice tie-in with our program and with the running community. Locally, this is something that people want to come out and watch.”

 

The high school portion of the event is a new addition to the Hornet Jamboree.

 

“One thing we didn’t do is just cast a wide net and just say, ‘Anyone who wants to come can come,'” Abbott said. “We were very selective about what schools we invited so the product would be very high.”

 

Abbott, who also coordinates the Jamboree, said he thinks the squads would compete well in this event.

 

“This is a chance to get the season started off well,” Abbott said.

 

Kathleen Raske, director of track and field/cross-country said the first meet is a good way to measure what types of runners are on the team.

 

“The first cross-country meet is usually about seeing where kids are at, especially our new athletes,” she said.

 

Cameron Mitchell, redshirt sophomore is confident the team will do well in the event.

 

“It’s our home course and we’re going to run really well,” he said. “We usually run well at our home meets.”

 

Freshman Nathanael Litwiller said a top-10 finish would help the team do well in the overall standings. He hopes to be in the top-10 in his race, which also includes last year’s first-place runner, junior Scott Grose.

 

Grose finished last year’s event, the four-mile run, in 19 minutes, 53 seconds.

 

Litwiller echoed a common theme throughout the cross-country team, everyone wants to win.

 

“I want to score as high as I can and give everything I have,” he said.

 

Senior David Rabinowitz also said he expects the team to do well.

 

“We have a lot of new people this year and we have some good returners this year as well,” he said. “It’s a chance for everyone on our team to get some experience in.”

 

Sac State’s men’s team was ranked sixth in the Big Sky Conference Preseason Poll on Aug. 17, while the women were ranked third.

 

This meet also counts towards the Causeway Cup, which the Hornets have won over UC Davis three consecutive years. The Causeway Cup is a competition between Sac State and UC Davis. Whenever the two rivals meet the winner is awarded points. Each sport in which the teams compete against each other are set at a certain amount of points. The school with the most points at the end of the school year is awarded the Causeway Cup.

 

Kristina Holtz, a redshirt junior and all-Big Sky Conference runner from last season, returns this season to lead the women’s cross country team.

 

Holtz has a clear goal for the race.

 

“It’s our Causeway and our goal is to beat Davis,” she said.

 

Holtz placed fourth in the women’s 5k in last year’s Jamboree, finishing in a time of 17:49.

 

Abbott feels that the design of the course bodes well for the Hornets.

 

“Our familiarity (with Granite Regional Park) allows us to attack certain sections of the course that we feel comfortable with,” Abbott said. “Last year’s experience will help improve our overall results.”

 

Abbot feels the Hornet Jamboree is a good chance for fans of cross-country to come out and see a solid performance by all the participating schools.

 

“If you’re a fan of distance running, locally, you can come out and watch two high-level cross-country college meets, as well as some good high school competition,” he said.

 

Dustin Nosler can be reached at [email protected]