BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Touring the course that will serve as the West Region Championships venue, Humboldt State's cross country runners put up solid performances, finishing sixth in the women's race and fifth in the men's competition at the Western Washington Invitational on Saturday.

HSU's men placed third among NCAA Division II programs, scoring 126 points. Alaska Anchorage dominated the event with 33 points, and host Western Washington was second with 85 points.

Moving up from the 8,000 meter distance to 10,000 for the first time this season, Austin Huff paced HSU with a 17th-place finish in 32 minutes, 22.9 seconds. Eric Malain was 20th in 32:40.7, and Nico Arguelles placed 23rd in 33:08.0 on the Lake Padden course.

Also scoring for the Lumberjacks were Hunter Daniel in 41st position with a 33:57.0 clocking, and Joe Ostini was 42nd with the exact same time.

In the women's race, Alaska Anchorage, in first, Western Washington, in fourth place, and Seattle Pacific, in fifth, were the Division II schools placing ahead of HSU. Humboldt State's packed its athletes tightly, finishing only 17 points behind SPU.

Irene Graham was the Jacks' No. 1 runner again, placing 38th in a time of 23:52.7 over the 6,000 meter course. Amanda Camarillo placed 43rd (24:07.9) and Tess Dahlgren finished 50th in 24:22.7.

Melinda Magee stepped up and produced a strong race as HSU's No. 4 runner, finishing 55th in 24:38.4. Filling out the scoring pack was Christina Perez in 57th place with a time of 24:43.7.

Humboldt State takes a week off before preparing for the Nov. 6 California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships in Pomona.