Men's Cross Country

Occidental Men's Cross Country Team Earns National Ranking
October 5, 2006

After three solid finishes in September, the Occidental men's cross-country team is beginning to garner some national attention. The Tigers are ranked 31st in the NCAA Division III poll, released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association.

Occidental is the only SCIAC team to receive a ranking and one of just three teams in the Western Region behind Willamette (15th) and Colorado College (27th). It's the latest in a growing string of accolades for the men's program, which finished dead last with a squad of two runners in 1999.

"It's recognition for our hard work and perhaps a validation that our region is improving," offers eighth-year head coach Troy Engle. "But our goal is still continued improvement, winning the SCIAC, and winning the Region."

Juniors Kevin Chaves '08 and Alex Ramon '08 are key to the Tigers' title hopes this fall. Chaves logged a season-best 24:23 8k last week at the UC-Riverside Invitational, finishing second overall against Division I & II competition. He finished third in the first two meets of the season, running a 24:59 at the UC-Irvine Invitational Sept. 9 and a 15:38 5k one week later at the Big Wave Invitational in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Ramon clocked a fifth-place 24:31 last week at Riverside and finished fourth in both Irvine and Hawaii. Galen Smith '09, Keith Blumenfeld '09, and Daniel DeMartini '07 rounded out the Tigers' scoring five at UC-Riverside.

With the pre-season now complete, Occidental begins its quest for a league title Friday, Oct. 13 with the SCIAC Multi-Duals at La Mirada Park, followed by the SCIAC Championships Oct. 28 at Prado Park in Chino. Both meets start at 9:00am.

Both the men's and women's team's placed second at the SCIAC Championships last fall, the best combined finish since 1995.