Greeley, Colo. - In cold conditions, with melting snow on the Boomerang Golf Course, the Portland State cross country teams competed at the Big Sky Championship hosted by Northern Colorado. Both men's and women's teams finished in eighth-place overall.
The Northern Arizona men's and women's squads took the championship for the third consecutive season. The men finished an impressive 49 points ahead of second-place Montana State, with all members finishing in the top-10, and the women finished 36 points ahead of Montana State
Junior Andrew Salg paced the Vikings for the second-straight race as he finished the 8k course in a time of 27:40.31 to take 36th place overall in the field of 65. Just behind Salg was sophomore John Lawrence in 42nd, clocking a 28:08.66, followed by sophomore Mark Bozarth-Dreher at 28:22.86 in 47th. Senior Eric Henderson rounded out the top-50 for the Viks, coming in 50th with a time of 28:38.56 and senior Brian Pinkstaff completed the field for Portland State with a 32:43.96.
The top five runners for Portland State all finished within 58 seconds of each other in the field to score 226 points, 47 points ahead of ninth-place Northern Colorado. The men improved their performance from last year, as they finished 12 points ahead of last year's performance.
Freshman Amber Rozcicha finished 38th in the women's field of 67 and clocked a time of 21:42.1 to pace PSU. Rozcicha was trailed by classmate Brittany Castillo in 43rd and finished 3.75 seconds behind the Newberg, Ore., native. Junior transfer Amelia Holcombe clocked a 22:01.60 to finish 47th, followed by newcomer Julie Pedersen with a time of 22:10.20 in 49th. Katie Blue completed the top-50 at 22:13.15. Junior Stephanie Deever and freshman Brittany Long completed the field of Viks with times of 22:15.70 and 23:07.55, respectively, for the Vikings in 51st and 60th.
Overall, the Portland State women had the most freshmen in the field, along with Weber State, with four each and finished only seven points shy passing seventh-place UNC in the final standings. The women finished 49 points ahead of Eastern Washington.
