Long Beach State University Athletics
Cross Country begins season at Fulleron Opener
9/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Sept. 3, 2010
LONG BEACH - The Long Beach State cross country team opens the 2010 season this Saturday at the Fullerton Season Opener hosted by Cal State Fullerton. The women's 6,000-meter race is scheduled for an 8:30 a.m. start, while the men's 8,000-meter race will start a half hour later. Both races will take place at Carbon Canyon Park in Brea.
Both men's and women's teams will be looking to improve from the 2009 campaign as they make a run for the Big West Conference Championship. The 49ers are coming off a season in which both men's and women's teams finished strongly at the Big West Championship in Riverside. The 49ers placed 14th at the NCAA West Regionals in Springfield, Ore. to end the season ranked in the ultra-competitive region.
The 49ers were picked to finish fifth in the Big West in both men's and women's preseason polls that was released by the conference office on Wednesday. The women's team was tabbed 46 points, while the men collected 39 points. In the USTFCCCA west regional poll, the men's squad were ranked at No. 13 and the women at No. 15.
"We are very excited going into the year," 49er distance coach Patrick Cunniff said. "We feel like, particularly on the men's side, the advancement our team made between the end of cross country last year and the end of track and even through the summer to where we are right now, it's been phenomenal!"
"It's outstanding both how we matured and how the guys ran on the track and how dedicated and how hard they worked over the summer to get this point in the season. It gives us hope this year as the Big West is little more wide open than it has in the past."
For the men's team, the 49ers will be led by senior Steven DeCastro and junior Matt Maldonado as both runners had a strong track season this past year. Raul Acros, Bret Hasvold and Nick Kelley will also be a strong component to the 49ers season.
"On the women's side, we feel like we have a strong group of returning runners and we have some interesting recruits," Cunniff said. "If those two groups can mesh together well, we could have a very competitive team. The women will be very similar to the men as we could potentially see a different No. 1 runner almost every week"
Senior Jennifer Rodriguez will be looked upon to lead the women's squad into the new season. In the spring, Rodriquez set a school record in the 10K and scored in the 1,500. Also, looking to make a strong impact for The Beach will be junior Alisia Barajas and sophomore Anne Randall as both runners finished in the top-20 at last year's Big West Championship.
The women's team will welcome three newcomers that will give The Beach an added boost. Nina Moore (state junior college champion), Lenore Moreno (state JC champion 5K and 10K) Rosa Del Toro (state JC champion 1,500), will all look to contribute this season for the 49ers.
Players Mentioned
