The Sacramento State men and women’s cross country teams both finished outside the top three for the third time this season at the Big Sky Conference Championships in Pocatello, Idaho, on Saturday.

After the men and women both finished ninth two weeks ago at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational, this was the Hornets’ second straight meet where they finished outside the top three.

The Hornets’ men’s team finished fifth out of nine teams in the 8k race and were led by junior Mark Frazier, who finished 18th overall after running a 26:18.65. Frazier’s time was good for eighth all-time at Sac State.

Sophomore Cole Younger was a close second for the Hornets and finished 20th overall with a 26:22.66 and sophomore Reesey Byers finished 28th overall and third for the Hornets after a 26:49.39 run.

Northern Arizona University won the meet with 26 points, followed by Weber State University with 42 points and Montana State University finished third with 86 points. The Hornets finished with 131 points for fifth.

Northern Arizona and Weber State had seven of the top eight finishers in the men’s race.

Northern Arizona senior Diego Estrada posted the fastest time for the men’s meet after dominating the field and running a 24:15.43. Estrada’s teammate, senior Jordan Chipangama, came in second place 23 seconds later and was followed by Weber State senior Brett Hales who ran a time of 24:44.60.

In the women’s race, the Hornets finished sixth out of nine teams and were led by junior Rachel Mitchell, who ran 18:37.33 for 14th place. Mitchell’s time was the ninth best in school history. Sophomore Veronica Stinnett came in second for the Hornets and 21st overall with a 19:09.78 and sophomore Breanna Lewis finished in third with a 19:36.28 for 32nd overall.

Weber State University won the race with 40 points, followed by Idaho State University in second with 50 points and Northern Arizona University edging Montana State University by seven points for third place with 82 points. The Hornets finished with 139 points for sixth.

Individually, Weber State sophomore Amber Henry took first place with a 17:30.50 run. Idaho State senior Bradi Hutchison finished second with a 17:43.52 and in third place was Northern Arizona senior Kortnee Burton with a 17:46.96.

The Hornets will look to put the past two non-top three meets behind them at the Doc Adams Invitational Saturday. This will be the second to last meet of the regular season and will take place at UC Davis.

Josh Stanley can be reached at [email protected].