LA JOLLA, Calif. ? The UC San Diego cross country teams ran well on their home course Saturday, posting a pair of second place finishes at the annual Triton Classic on the UCSD campus. The Tritons had three runners finish in the top 12 to claim second place out of nine teams in the 10k men's race, while the women also took home second out of 14 squads after placing three runners in top 13 in their 6k run. The Triton Cross Country Course will also serve as the site of the 2008 NCAA Division II West Regional on November 8. 

“We're very pleased with the performance of both of our teams out here today,” head coach Nate Garcia said. “I thought we engaged well, we competed, and today was a great preview for Regionals down the road. This is the toughest course our runners will see all season and I think we're in great shape heading into the conference championships in two weeks.”

The teams from the University of Alaska Anchorage had a big day, as the Seawolves swept both the men's and women's team titles. All five of the team's scorers on the men's side finished in the top 10 ? including four of the first five ? while UAA had the third, fourth, 12th, 18th, and 19th place finishers in the women's event.

Jesse Morrill was UCSD's top individual men's finisher for the second time this season, placing seventh overall with a time of 32:34.0. He finished two spots ahead of teammate Jake LeVIeux, who crossed the finish line with a time of 32:41.7 to claim ninth place. Gabe LaMothe turned in one of his better performances of the year Saturday, finishing 12th overall at 33:14.6. Mike Wright and Jeremy Riley capped the scoring for the Tritons, placing 19th and 20th overall, with respective times of 33:40.8 and 33:42.5.

Central Arizona's Jordan Chipangama broke the tape in the event, completing the race with an impressive time of 31:07.2. Marko Cheseto finished second at 31:29.7 and was the first of four consecutive Alaska Anchorage runners to cross the finish line. The Seawolves finished with 22 points to easily win the men's team title, while UCSD scored 62 and Cal Poly Pomona finished third with 80.

Freshman Bre Schofield and junior Ashleigh Montgomery were the top two finishers for the Tritons in the women's race, finishing 8th and 9th places out of 126 individual runners. Schofield's time of 22:23.6 was 27 seconds faster than Montgomery, who made a strong push at the end to crack the top 10. Freshman Elena Inouye was the next fastest UCSD runner, finishing 13 overall with a time of 22:57.5, while Kim Andrews recorded a time of 23:22.1, good enough for 20th place. Jessica DiMascio was the final Triton to score, finishing 22nd overall at 23:36.5. 

Jessica Pixler of Seattle Pacific was the top individual finisher in the race, setting a new Triton Classic course record with a time of 21:12.3. Her time eclipsed that of USC's Zsofia Erdelyi, who set the mark with a time of 21:50.4 last year. Pixler finished 17 seconds ahead of the second place finisher, Rose Tanui of Central Arizona.

Alaska Anchorage scored a total of 45 points to finish 16 ahead of UCSD. San Diego State finished third with 111 points.

Garcia and the Tritons will now have two weeks off from competition to prepare for the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships on October 25 in Devore, Calif. UCSD swept both the men's and women's races at the Cal State San Bernardino Coyote Invitational on the same course in September.