TRINIDAD — Depth proved essential in Saturday's Humboldt Invitational, allowing both the Lumberjack men's and women's teams to claim victories in a three-way competition at Patrick's Point State Park.

The Lumberjack men scored 24 points, defeating both Fresno Pacific (36) and Oregon Institute of Technology (77). Freshman Andrew Sylvester led the the way for HSU by placing second overall with a time of 26 minutes, 59 seconds on the 8-kilometer course. The Jacks packed their next four scorers in fourth through seventh placed, with only 34 seconds separating their top five.

In the women's race, Jacks' junior Megan Rolland raced to a first place finish with a time of 19:27 on the 5K course, pacing the HSU women to victory over the same opponents. Humboldt State scored 26 points, followed by Fresno Pacific with 44 and OIT with 60.

"This is the first time in my five years here that we've won both the men's and women's races at our home meet," HSU head coach Sandy Moran pointed out. "The depth is taking over. That's an indication of a program's improvement."

Supporting Moran's statement further was the fact that both Sylvester and Jesus Solis slipped ahead of teammate Eric Malain, who led the Jacks in both of their meets last week. Solis was fourth in 27:14, Malain took fifth in 27:16, freshman Austin Huff was sixth in 27:19 and Steve Kilroy placed seventh in 27:33.

Benny Madrigal, who won the race two years ago as a sophomore, reclaimed his title and provided a highlight for Fresno Pacific. Madrigal placed well ahead of field with a time of 26:46, and teammate Isai Orea was third in 27:01.

Placing well for HSU in the women's even were Irene Graham, fourth with a time of 19:46, and Amanda Garcia, fifth in 20:28. Sylvia Manzo placed seventh in 20:40, Tess Dahlgren took ninth place, clocking 20:57, and Sylvia Nicovich was 10th in 21:22.

"This race was a big improvement in time over their previous races here for many of our women," Moran said. "Megan (Rolland) was 25 seconds faster than last year, Irene (Graham) dropped a minute and 20 seconds, and Amanda (Garcia) was a full minute faster."

Fresno Pacific again found success among its individual athletes, Kaili Zink placing second in 19:32 and Amanda Johnson taking third in 19:40.

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