Sacramento State’s cross-country teams concluded the 2009 season on Nov. 14 at the NCAA Western Regional in Eugene, Ore. The women’s team finished in first place at two events and the men’s team finished in first place at one event.

 

Senior Scott Grose led the men while junior Renisha Robinson led the women.

 

Scott Abbott, assistant cross-country coach, said the season went well.

 

“On the men’s side our younger athletes were trying to gain experience, but we had some very good individual performances throughout the year,” Abbott said. “We had a really good season and took our program to the next level on the women’s side.”

 

Abbott said freshman Rachel Mitchell displayed good leadership skills this season.

 

“Rachel Mitchell had an outstanding freshman year,” Abbott said. “She showed early in the season that she was a very competitive player and continued demonstrating successful performances throughout the season.”

 

The 2009 cross-country season marked the last competitive season for several of both teams’ leaders, including Grose and Kristina Holtz.

 

“Personally, I have learned a lot from my teammates and their performances and progress,” Grose said. “My teammate Chris (Romo) has had games in the past where he has somewhat given up when things were not going well, but he has overcome that and showing his teammates that; you have to separate the game with personal issues.”

 

Freshman Nathaniel Litwiller said the team learned a lot of valuable lessons. He said the team worked more as a team this season.

 

“Being on this team taught us how to work as a team, and now we are going to just keep growing stronger and working harder and maybe have better team performances for the years to come,” Litwiller said. “I definitely have a huge respect for the top guys who run in our college region. I have learned that it takes a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication; success is not handed to you on a platter.”

 

Abbott said the younger runners learned quickly how difficult the competition is at the NCAA level.

 

“I think as far as the guys go, some of the younger runners have learned what is required of them at this level competitively as well as through training,” Abbott said. “You could talk about it, but it’s different once you actually experience it first-hand in competition and on different levels.”

 

On the men’s team, Grose finished his collegiate athletic career with a 37th-place finish out of 182 runners at the Regional. It was the highest finish by a Hornet since 1997, when Hector Delgado finished in 21st place. Grose completed the 10k course in 31:43.86, third-best in Sac State history at this meet.

 

However, Grose said he is looking forward to another sport.

 

“Track is next and I am looking to go out with a bang with that too, but after this I just plan to continue training,” Grose said.

 

The women’s team finished the Regional in 18th of the 25-team competition and the men’s team finished in 20th in its 26-team competition.

 

Kathleen Raske, director of track and field/cross-country, and Abbott tried to provide the team with as much competitive experience as possible, especially to the freshmen, aiming to mold them into future team leaders.

 

“There are several athletes who are really standing out right now like Renisha Robinson and Erin Lewis, who both have demonstrated a high level, and Lea Wallace, being only a first year cross-country runner, has definitely shown glimpses of somebody who would be playing at the high level,” Abbott said. “Rachel Mitchell as a freshman also displayed a very outstanding season, so I would expect one of those four girls to take the reigns of leadership.”

 

Poetiic Reid can be reached at [email protected]