LA JOLLA, Calif. – Looking to return to the NCAA Championship stage for the second time in three years, the UC San Diego cross country teams begin the 2009 season with a home meet against Point Loma Nazarene and Cerritos College on Saturday. The Triton women will also be running against San Diego Christian College and CCAA rival Sonoma State.  

The women's race, which will cover 2.5 miles, is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m., while the 4.0 mile men's race is slated for 9:40.

UCSD was dominant in its season opener in 2008 with both the men and women claiming team victories on their home course. Led by Jesse Morrill's second place time of 21:51.9, the Triton men had five of the top eight finishers on the way to a comfortable win over Point Loma and the University of San Diego. Bre Schofield paved the way for the women's title, breaking the tape in her first collegiate cross country meet. With a final time of 15:17.4, the redshirt freshman led five UCSD runners in the top 14 and the Tritons beat out squads from PLNU, USD, and UNLV.

Despite failing to qualify for the NCAA Championships for just the third time at the Division II level in 2008, the UCSD women enter Saturday's opener with a No. 23 national ranking in the USTFCCCA preseason poll that was released on Wednesday. They were also tabbed sixth in the West Region earlier in the week. The Triton men, who finished seventh at last year's NCAA Regional, will begin 2009 with that same ranking in the West.

Entering on his third season as head coach, Nate Garcia welcomes back 12 letterwinners on the women's side in 2009, while his men's roster features 10 returning athletes. Headlining the list of returners for the women is Schofield, who returns after a brilliant freshman campaign last season. The Carlsbad, Calif. native paced the Tritons in every event in 2008, posted seven top 10 finishes, and earned All-American accolades after finishing 22nd overall at the NCAA National Championships in Slippery Rock, Pa.

Also back for the women is reigning CCAA Freshman of the Year Elena Inouye, as well as Jessie Raye Bodenhamer, who won the same award in 2007 but missed most of the 2008 campaign with an injury. The women will be looking to improve on their third place conference finish from a year ago and challenge seventh-ranked Chico State for the league crown.

The UCSD men, who finished second in the CCAA last season, will be looking to seniors Dan Anderson and Mike Wright to help fill the void left by the departure of All-CCAA performer Jake LeVieux. Garcia also returns Max Mullender and Jeremy Riley, who both uncorked big runs at the conference meet a year ago.

Following this weekend's race, the Tritons will take part in the UC Irvine Invitational on Saturday, September 12. UCSD will then travel to Evansville, Ind. for the Southern Indiana Pre-National Invitational on September 26, before returning to San Diego for 5k tune-up October 3 in Balboa Park.

The Tritons will then return to competition with their annual Triton Classic on Saturday, October 10 on the UCSD campus. This year's event will begin with the women running a 6k at 9:00 a.m. followed by the men's 10k at 10:00.

The final month of the season will feature as many as three events, beginning with the CCAA Championships in Arcata on October 24. UCSD will then travel to San Francisco for the NCAA West Regional on November 7, looking to qualify for the NCAA National Championships, which will be held on November 21 in Evansville.