SACRAMENTO, Calif. – On-and-off rain and mud did not stop many supporters of the Chico State cross country program from watching the Wildcat men's team finish sixth at the NCAA Division II Championships in nearby Arcade Creek in Sacramento on Saturday to keep an impressive streak going.
 
The Wildcats, who only had to make a very short drive to the national meet this year, knew going into the meet with rain and mud as a factor to the 10K course. It had downpour nearly all week on campus and throughout Northern California leading up to Saturday.
 
Despite that big element, the Wildcats ended the race finishing 10^th or better at the NCAA Championships for the ninth consecutive season and for the 24^th time in the last 25 years.
 
 
The Wildcats collected 192 points as a team, timing at 2:33.03. The Colorado School of Mines scored 63 points to edge out Wingate's 66 to win the team national title. Adams State took third with 113 points, West Texas A&M finished fourth at 138 points followed by Grand Valley State with 171 points.
 
Reigning CCAA and NCAA West Region individual champion Mario Giannini may have missed out on a trifecta, but his 28^th-place finish out of 262 participants earned him All-American. The sophomore clocked in at a lifetime best 30:15.4. He was at 100^th place by the 2K mark and by the halfway point at 5.4K he moved into 40^th place.
 
Matthew Gordon missed on qualifying for All-American by placing 42^nd overall. He turned in a personal-best 30:32.1 while Oliver Diaz of Western Colorado took the final spot at 30:30.8.
 
Daniel Hernandez also had a top 50 performance running cross country for the final time, taking 47^th overall at 30:37.9. Dylan White, a veteran at the national meet, also finished his cross country career taking 52^nd overall with a career-best of 30:46.4.
 
Fellow senior Brayden McLaughlin placed 56^th overall at 30:51.8, Damian Garcia took 114^th at 31:28.7 and Hunter Dougherty rounded out the 'Cats by finishing 179^th at a personal-best 32:13.8.
 
West Texas A&M's William Amponsah continued his dominance in cross country by successfully defending the individual national title at 29:40.8.