SACRAMENTO, Calif. --- It was a beautiful Saturday morning in Sacramento as the 2019 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships kicked off with the women starting at 11 a.m. (MST) and the men following at 12:15 p.m. (MST). The Mountaineer women finished in fourth place with 192 points, as the men finished seventh overall with 273 points.
 
The conditions were quite favorable as the sun was out, wind was low and temperatures reached into the high 50s.
 
The Mountaineer men had two all All-Americans in Saturday's races as Taylor Stack finished third and Charlie Sweeney finished 11^th.
 
The Mountaineer women, ranked sixth going into the race, outran their ranking to make the podium with a fourth-place finish, coming in behind No. 1 Adams State (23 points), No. 2 Grand Valley State (87 points), and No. 3 Colorado School of Mines (134 points).
 
Leading the charge and earing All-American status in the process, Alexia Thiros was the top finisher for the Mountaineers as she crossed the line in 20:58 to earn 39^th place.
 
Finishing just three spots back form Thiros was redshirt freshman Katie Doucette as she clocked a time of 21:01.0 to earn 42^nd place.
 
Both Alyssa Tatum and Hannah Mae Gigstad finished in the top 50 to keep the pack tight for the Mountaineers. Tatum finished 46^th in a time of 21:03.7 with Gigstad finishing 49^th in 21:06.5.
 
To close out the team scoring for the women, true freshman, Alexa Rodriguez came across in 21:18.7 to finish 63^rd overall.
 
Bailey Sharon finished in 66^th (21:19.7) as Malindi (Lindi) Congour finished 102^nd (21:40.8).
 
The men's team led by Taylor Stack and Charlie Sweeney finished seventh overall with 273 points as both Stack and Sweeney finished in the top 11, but the Mountaineers couldn't put together a strong enough pack time to make the podium.
 
Stack lead the team as he finished third overall in a time of 29:47.6 just 16 seconds behind the first place finisher. Sweeney was closely behind as he crossed the line in 30:07.0 to finish 11^th overall.
 
The next Mountaineer to cross the line was senior Evan Sutherland who ran tough through 9k but did not have the closing speed to keep up with the kickers. Sutherland finished 82^nd overall in a time of 31:22.4 running a personal best in the process.
 
To close out the team scoring Gage Mayo and Max Sawyer came across the line in 107^th and 118^th, Mayo ran a time of 31:38.4 as Sawyer completed the 10k course in 31:43.5.
 
Ricky Esqueda finished 152^nd (32:01.7) as Ryan Outler finished 237^th (33:31.9).
 
With the conclusion of the 2019 cross country season the Mountaineers will now transition into indoor track and field mode, with their first meet taking place on Dec. 5-6 at the Colorado Mines Alumni Classic & Multi.