Cal State San Bernardino will host the 2008 California Collegiate Athletic Association men's and women's cross country championships on Saturday at Glen Helen Regional Park in Devore. 
    This is the first time since the Coyotes women's cross country program was reinstated in 1996-97 that the university has hosted a conference championship meet. The women's 6,000-meter race is set for 9 a.m. and the men's 8,000-meter race will go off at 9:45 a.m. 
    “It (the event) gives us credibility with the other schools in the conference to show that we are a legitimate program,” said Head Coach Tom Burleson, the dean of CSUSB coaches and the only coach the program has had since its inception in 1984-85. The program was dropped in 1991 when the university moved from NCAA Division III to Division II. 
    The meet brings together 11 women's teams and seven men's teams to compete for the CCAA championship. The top 10 finishers in each race will earn all-CCAA honors. Coach of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors will also be announced after the meet. 
    On the women's side, three of the 11 teams are ranked among the top 25 in the nation in NCAA Division II. Chico State is No. 4, Cal State L.A. is No. 15 and UC San Diego is No. 21. Chico is No. 1 in the West Region followed by No. 2 L.A., No. 5 UC San Diego and No. 10 San Francisco State. 
    Chico State is ranked No. 4 in the nation among the men while UC San Diego is 18th. In region, the Wildcats are No. 1, UCSD is No. 4, Cal Poly Pomona is No. 6 and Humboldt State is No. 7.
Chico State is the defending men's champion and has won the title each of the past six years. Cal State L.A. won the women's team title in 2007. 
    Burleson said the Coyotes' goal each season is a top five finish. “There are some very good schools in our conference so we will be challenged. The ladies are working as hard as they can in preparation for this meet,” Burleson said. CSUSB was seventh in 2007. 
    Psychologically, he said, hosting the meet has its advantages. “Our ladies are buying into the fact this is our home course. We've run it before (Sept. 20) and we don't have to travel somewhere else as we have in the past.” 
    CSUSB senior captain Kari Brandt agreed. “A big advantage of hosting the meet at home is to be able to practice running the course at any time before the meet and this will help us to better understand the course”, Brandt said. This will “show people what San Bernardino has to offer,” she added. 
    The Coyotes' No. 1 runner all season long, freshmen Nikki Chesnut, said, “It's going to go well. We did really good hosting the earlier meet (Coyote Invitational on Sept. 20). We had a good clerk of the course and nobody got lost.” 
    Chestnut's adjustment from high school level cross country to the college level has not been an easy one but she is fairing just fine. 
    “The toughest thing is the amount of girls running. In high school I was used to running up front with a pack of runners behind me. The competition is so tough at this level that I find myself in the middle of the pack and there are many more runners than I was used to in high school. They are all up to my level or better. It's been a difficult adjustment”, said Chesnut. 
    As for her personal goal for the CCAA meet, she is shooting “to run a low 24 (minute) time or a high 23 (minute) time.” 
    The Coyotes women will be competing against Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State Los Angeles, Cal State Monterey Bay, Cal State Stanislaus, Chico State, Humboldt State, San Francisco State, Sonoma State, and UC San Diego. 
    CSUSB is one of only three conference schools that does have a women's track program to compliment its cross country program. The other two are Monterey Bay and Sonoma State. 
    Participating in the men's event will be Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Monterey Bay, Cal State Stanislaus, Chico State, Humboldt State, San Francisco State, and UC San Diego. 
    CCAA WOMEN'S NOTES: The Coyotes' Nikki Chesnut has posted season-best times of 19:12 for 5,000 meters at the UC Riverside Invitational and 24:30 for 6,000 meters over the same Glen Helen Park course as Saturday's conference meet….Chico State is led by senior Kayla Silva, an all-CCAA runner and D-2 all-American in 2007 and two-time CCAA champion at 800 meters and an NCAA qualifier at 1,500 meters…..UC San Diego has Bre Schofield, a freshman who has been the team's top finisher in every meet and won the CSUSB Invitational at Glen Helen on Sept. 20 in 22:09. She has been a top-10 finisher in every race this season….UCSD's Ashleigh Montgomery ran 22:50 at the Slippery Rock Pre-National Invitational to finish 11th….Cal State Stanislaus has the Foldager twins (Rubye and Denali), both freshmen from Alaska. Along with senior April Montgomery (24:20 at the CSUSB meet) and Clarissa Rivera (24:30) they give the Warriors a solid crew….Cal Poly Pomona has Tiffany Turner who finished sixth at the UCSD meet in 22:01. Turner has four top-10 finishes this season. Amber Hebb ran 23:01 for CPP at the Tritons meet to finish 15th…..S.F. State is led by Anna Bretan, a 2008 all-American at 5,000 meters and a bronze medalist at the NCAA D-2 championship…Defending champion Cal State L.A. is led by Vivien Wadeck, a junior who earned CCAA runner of the week three times this season. She finished second at the Slippery Rock pre-Nationals meet in 22:08 for 6K. Teammate Liliana Hernandez ran 23:07 at Slippery Rock and was 8th in the 2007 CCAA meet in 21:32.4 and 8th at the 2007 West Regional meet…. 
    CCAA MEN'S NOTES: The powerhouse Chico State team is led by Scott Bauhs, a two-time NCAA track champion (5K and 10K) and was the fourth-fastest U.S. runner at 10K in 2008 and a U.S. Olympic Trials participant… Bauhs is unbeaten in 2008 XC season….won Stanford Invitational for second year in a row….Brendan Scanlon was an NCAA all-American as a freshman…..Angel Marquez was the NCAA D-2 runnerup at 1,500 meters in 2008 and all-CCAA and all-West region in 2007 cross country and the CCAA 5K track champion in 2008…..Jordan Fairley was the CCAA steeplechase champion in 2008…..Cal Poly Pomona's Jersain Torres won the CSUSB Invitational 8K in September in 25:25, earning CCAA runner of week honors…he ran 10K at the UCSD meet in 32:25.3 to finish sixth…..S.F. State has Josh Babiak, a 2005 D-2 all-American and an all-CCAA runner in 2005 and 2006 who did not compete in 2007…..CS Stanislaus has junior Joey Nunes who finished 13th at the CSUSB Invitational in 26:56 and 27:12 at Stanford….:UCSD is led by Jake LeViuex who was second at the Coyotes Invitational 8K in 25:32 and ran 25:24 at the Slippery Rock pre-Nationals meet to wind up fourth. Jesse Morrill has twice been the team's top finisher this season and has four top10 results, running 25:26 at Slippery Rock…..Eric Malain, a sophomore, has won two meets this year for Humboldt State with a best 8K time of 26:06…..Andrew Sylvester was the team's No. 1 at the school's invitational and has run 26:02. Jesus Solis has a best time of 25:48 for 8K….