The longest journey begins with a single step—and the Long Beach State cross country teams began theirs yesterday at Fullerton, with strong finishes as both the men’s and women’s teams placed second at the Fullerton Municipal Golf Course.

Azusa Pacific won the women’s team title with 53 points, followed by LBSU (65) and Glendale College (93). Cal Poly Pomona came away with the men’s title with 69 points, followed by LBSU (79) and Cal State Fullerton (94).

The 49ers had a trio of runners finish in the top 10 as freshman Anne Randall was the top individual for The Beach as she finished the three-lap 6K women’s race in sixth in a time of 23:11.40. Sophomore Elisabeth Ramos finished in seventh as she crossed the finish line in 23:16.00, followed by junior Jennifer Rodriguez in eighth with a mark of 23:21.30. Sophomore Alisia Barajas finished in 15th with a time of 23:39.10.

On the men’s side, three 49ers finished in the top 20 as sophomore Raul Arcos was the top runner for LBSU as he covered the four-lap 8K men’s course in 14th (26:29.00), followed by junior Josh Ruff in 18th (26:37.90) and senior Dylan Jaedtke in 19th (26:40.00).

Junior Steven DeCastro crossed the finish line in 21st (26:43.90), followed by senior Jacob Ainsworth in 26th (26:55.80), freshmen Naveed Kharrat in 32nd (27:04.00) and Jared Long in 38th (27:12.90)

Azusa Pacific had a pair of runners claim the men’s and women’s titles as Jacky Kipwambok won the women’s race by more than a minute as she crossed the finish line in a time of 21:24.20 and Abednego Magut came in at 25:06.20 on the men’s side.

The 49ers return to action as they travel to San Diego for the Aztec Invitational on Sept. 19.

From LBSU reports 

WOMEN’S 6K TEAM RESULTS

1. Azusa Pacific, 53

2. LONG BEACH STATE, 65

3. Glendale College, 93

4. Southern California, 99

5. Loyola Marymount, 125

6. Cal State Fullerton, 188

7. Orange Coast, 194

8. Vanguard, 201

9. San Diego State, 212

10. A Snail’s Pace, 281

11. Cal Poly Pomona, 303

12. Cal State L.A. 349

13. UNLV, 382

14. Mt. Sac, 405

15. West Florida, 407

16. Cal State San Bernardino , 432

17. Whittier, 493

18. Fullerton College, 505

19. Pasadena City College, 569

20. The Master’s, 573

21. Cal Baptist, 627

22. Cal Lutheran, 662

23. Redlands, 699

24. Long Beach City College, 718

25. Cal State Dominguez Hills, 767

26. Santa Ana College, 778.

LONG BEACH STATE WOMEN’S RESULTS

6. Anne Randall (23:11.40)

7. Elisabeth Ramos (23:16.00)

8. Jennifer Rodriguez (23:21.30)

15. Alisia Barajas (23:39.10)

41. Hillary Zator (24:14.60)

76. Jessica Barnard (25:18.70)

96. Lindsay Kaplan (25:46.70)

104. Kirsten Neill (25:54.20)

MEN’S 8K TEAM RESULTS

1.Cal Poly Pomona, 69

2. Long Beach State, 79

3. Cal State Fullerton, 94

4. Vanguard, 125

5. Orange Coast, 157

6. Azusa Pacific, 175

7. Glendale, 221

8. Mt. Sac, 223

9. Cal Coast, 238

10. A Snail’s Pace, 254

11. The Master’s, 257

12. West Florida, 284

13. Cal Baptist, 308

14. Loyola Marymount, 403

15. Fullerton College, 418

16. Whittier College, 478

17. LaVerne, 479

18. Pasadena CC, 499

19. Redlands, 590

LONG BEACH STATE MEN’S RESULTS

14. Raul Arcos (26:29.00)

18. Josh Ruff (26:37.90)

19. Dylan Jaedtke (26:40.00)

21 Steven DeCastro (26:43.90)

26. Jacob Ainsworth (26:55.80)

32. Naveed Kharrat (27:04.00)

38. Jared Long (27:12.90)

73. Alex Freitas (28.00.20)