PALO ALTO — Despite training through this week's race as part of their strength phase of workouts, the Humboldt State men's cross country team placed 15th overall and second among NCAA Division II teams at the Stanford Invitational on Saturday.

HSU head coach Scott Pesch received a strong effort from his top runner, Eric Malain, but wasn't satisfied with his team's overall performance. Malain finished 54th in the competitive field, covering the 8,000 meter distance in a time of 25 minutes, 6 seconds.

"We ran average at best, but not up to our potential," Pesch said. "We'll get set for two weeks of hard work and get ready for our next race."

HSU did manage to defeat California Collegiate Athletic Association rivals Cal Poly Pomona, San Francisco State and Cal State Stanislaus, also knocking off a couple of Division I squads. The Jacks also ran without one of their top runners, Nico Arguelles.

Placing second in HSU's scoring pack was Austin Huff in 25:30. Robert Gustas was the Jacks' next runner at 26:51, followed by Roberto Quintero (27:11) and Hunter Daniel (27:15).

In the women's race, Irene Graham led the way with a time of 24:08 on the 6K course. Behind her were teammates Christina Perez (24:24), Tess Dahlgren (24:57), Amanda Camarillo (25:20) and Alizah Rotman (25:32).

"Malain and Christina Perez were our individual highlights of the day," Pesch said. "Other than that, most of our athletes were far short of their potential. We'll bounce back and be prepared to race well next time out."

HSU's next competition is at the Gator Invitational hosted by San Francisco State on Oct. 8.