MCKINLEYVILLE, Calif. - The UC San Diego cross country teams traveled to Northern California on Saturday, competing against the rest of the conference in the 2009 California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships at the Beau Pre Golf Course in McKinleyville. The Triton women had an excellent showing, finishing second in the 6k race, while the men placed fifth overall in their 8k run. Chico State proved to be the team to beat in each race once again, capturing both the men's and women's team titles for the second year in a row.

After finishing third each of the three previous seasons, UCSD's women moved up one spot with their second place finish, while the Triton men fell three spots after placing second in San Bernardino in 2008.

The women kicked things off on Saturday morning and it was sophomore All-American Bre Schofield once again leading the pack for UCSD. Schofield's time of 22:13.5 was good enough for second overall behind individual winner Vivien Wadeck of Cal State L.A. Wadeck competed the course with a time of 21:52.6.

Schofield, who finished third overall in 2008, took home a second straight All-CCAA honor for her performance.

Senior Marie Schaper was the next-fastest Triton on the day, finishing 18th overall with a time of 23:44.2. Right behind Schaper was sophomore Elena Inouye, who finished at 23:45.1 to place 19th. Aaryn Kobayashi and Caprice Thompson rounded out the scoring for UCSD, finishing in 24th and 32nd place, respectively. Kobayashi clocked in at 23:53.6, while Thompson posted a time of 24:07.9.

"The women ran strong today, so we're pleased about that," head coach Nate Garcia said. "They put themselves in good position early and really worked the second half of the course."

Chico State was dominant yet again, claiming four of the top eight finishes in the event to win the program's sixth CCAA title in the last eight years. Julie Shaw was the Wildcats' top individual finisher, placing third overall, eight seconds behind Schofield.

Wadeck was named Runner of the Year for the second year in a row. The Golden Eagles' standout was also named the CCAA Newcomer of the Year after breaking the tape and setting a course record in San Bernardino last season. That award went to Chico State's Jonah Weeks on Saturday, while Tiffany Dinh of Cal Poly Pomona and Gary Town of Chico State were named Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year, respectively.

Chico State finished with 33 points to easily outdistance the field. UCSD tallied 84 points to hold off Cal Pomona, which finished with 91 points, for second place. Cal State L.A. finished fourth with 101 points, followed by Cal State Stanislaus (142), host Humboldt State (146), San Francisco State (162), Cal State San Bernardino (191), Sonoma State (270), Cal State Dominguez Hills (290), and Cal State Monterey Bay (334).

Senior Mike Wright was the top individual finisher for the Tritons on the men's side, placing 22nd overall with a time of 26:22.7. Wright finished right in front of sophomores Jeremy Riley and John Svet, who finished with respective times of 26:33.0 and 26:39.6 to place 23rd and 24th overall.

Eric Baum and Alex Corliss were the final two Tritons to score, finishing in 31st and 34th place, respectively. Baum's time of 27:04.5 was a little more than nine seconds faster than Corliss, who clocked in at 27:13.9.

"Unfortunately, the men didn't have their best performance today," Garcia said. "They weren't where they needed to be early on and just couldn't make up enough ground in the later stages of the race. We know they can run better than they showed today."

Chico State's Jimmy Elam was the top individual finisher in the race, collecting Runner of the Year honors following a winning time of 24:50.3. Teammates Brent Handa and Beau Gradone-Rogers finished second and fourth, respectively with times of 24:57.2 and 25:02.9. Handa was named Newcomer of the Year for his performance, while Humboldt State's Luis Galicia took home the Freshman of the Year award.

Like their female counterparts, Chico State's men continued their dominance of the CCAA, winning an eighth consecutive conference title. The Wildcats had five of the top seven finishers in the race for a total of 20 points, which was 33 ahead of second place Cal Poly Pomona. Host Humboldt State tallied 75 to finished third, while Cal State Stanislaus finished fourth with 118, just one point in front of UCSD to round out the top five. San Francisco State (149) finished sixth and Cal State Monterey Bay (220) was seventh.

Garcia and the Tritons will have two weeks to prepare for the NCAA Division II West Regionals, which will be held Saturday, November 7 at Golden Gate Park's Speedway Meadow in San Francisco.