BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Showing vast improvement over their results of two weeks ago, the Humboldt State men's cross country team finished 6th of 19 teams overall at the NCAA Division II West Region Championships on Saturday.

The Jacks' finish was a pleasant surprise, placing them four spots ahead of the 10th position they held in this week's regional ranking. They were led by Nico Arguelles in 17th place, Eric Malain in 18th and Austin Huff in 24th position.

HSU's women finished 16th among the 24 competing teams. Leading the way was Bridget Berg, who placed 18th overall in only her second race of the season.

Complete Results

For the men, Saturday's performance was vindication for their sub-par effort at the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships two weeks ago. They defeated both UC San Diego and San Francisco State, teams that finished ahead of the Jacks at the CCAA meet.

"It was a phenomenal performance," HSU head coach Scott Pesch said. "All of the guys ran to their potential. To come back and end the season like this was very rewarding."

Running in cold, crisp conditions, with three inches of new snow on the trails of Lake Padden Park, the Jacks found leadership in Arguelles' 32 minutes, 36 seconds timing on the 10-kilometer course. Malain was right behind in 32:43, and Huff was just off the pace at 33:07.

Completing the Jacks' scoring pack were Benjamin Stern, in 62nd place (34:34) and Hunter Daniel in 63rd (34:36).

Alaska Anchorage took the men's title, edging out Chico State, 49-54. The other two teams earning berths in the NCAA Division II National Championships were Western Washington and Western Oregon.

Berg's time of 23:46 on the women's 8K course was a remarkable effort from an athlete who was limited by injuries all found. Forced to train using alternative methods, Berg came on at season's end, finishing as HSU's top runner at the CCAA and Region meets.

"What Bridget achieved is very impressive," Pesch said. "Our women, overall, achieved most of what they set out to do this year. They really came together as a team."

Behind Berg were Tess Dahlgren, in 72nd place (25:01) and Irene Graham in 80th (25:13). Alizah Rotman placed 106th (25:48) and Melinda Magee was 108th (25:50). The Jacks were running without Amanda Camarillo, who was out with an injury after finishing as HSU's No. 2 runner at the CCAA meet.