As the month of November arrived, bringing with it last Saturday’s NCAA Division II West Regional in Bellingham, Wash., the SF State Cross Country team wrapped up their seasons with the men’s team finishing 16th of 17, and the women’s team 19th of 19.

With the team failing to qualify for the NCAA Division II National Championships in Evansville, Ind. on the 20th, the team looks back and reflects on their results and accomplishments over the three-month long season.

“We came together really well,” said head coach Chris Lundstrom. “We definitely improved over the course of the season. Across the board, everybody improved.”

Lundstrom, in his first season as SF State’s Head Cross Country Coach, didn’t start formally practicing until late August, but had the entire team running personal-best times by the Gator Invite on Oct. 2nd.

But looking ahead to next season, Lundstrom said he expects better times, better results and added depth to the team.

“Everybody’s going to know what to expect, and we have a full year to prepare,” Lundstrom said. “I’m doing a lot of recruiting, and hopefully, we can shore up the team.”

Although he’s losing arguably the team’s best runner in senior Chikara Omine, the team hopes to see Batbileg Bor, Paul Broyer, Sandino Moya-Smith, Mikhail Osipov and Luis Cortes return on the men’s side, and Christine Perez, Karin Hansen, Tehani Thompson, Marisol Miranda and Brittany McBride for the women. Add off-season training and fresh recruits into the equation, and the team could be drastically overlooked for next year’s conference and regional championships.

“It’s going to be tough losing Chikara,” Lundstrom said. “But I think we can still improve over the course of the off-season.”

Lundstrom has the team believing in him and the future of the Cross Country program at SF State. He believes other returning team members such as Hansen, Perez and Thompson will replace Omine’s role as the team’s leader. Omine was the Gators’ top-finisher at Regionals in the 42nd spot with a 34:52 time in the men’s 10k race.

Thompson, a sophomore, is also anxious about next year’s team.

“I’m really excited about training next year,” Thompson said. “He’s (Lundstrom) livened up the team and looking forward to next season.”

The Gators started the season off with the men’s team placing 6th of eight and 18th of 20 teams at the extreme deep race fields at the USF and Stanford Invitationals. The women’s team placed 9th of 10 and 19th of 19 teams at the two meets.

The Gator Invite was the peak of the Gators’ season with Omine finishing second overall in the men’s 8k race. The men’s team went on to place 2nd behind Sacramento State and the women’s team ran arguably their best meet of the season despite their last-place finish.

Prior to this past weekend’s Regional, the men’s team placed 5th out of five teams, and the women 9th of 10 teams at the CCAA Championships in Pomona on Oct. 23rd.

“I thought it was a great season,” said Perez, who was the top-finisher for the Lady Gators at Regionals in 79th place with a 25:51 time in the women’s 6k race. “Most of our team is coming back. We’re all pretty excited about next season."