College of the Redwoods freshman Kaleb Traficante is heading to the state cross country championships after an impressive showing at the NorCal meet in Salinas on Friday.

One week after placing first at the Golden Valley Conference championships, his first ever win in a cross country race, Traficante was 24th overall at the NorCals, finishing in a time of 21 minutes, 28 seconds.

“It’s a great accomplishment for a freshman, and he showed so much improvement this year,” CR head coach Reed Elmore said. “He’s the real deal and proves that hard work pays off.”

Overall it was a disappointing day for the CR men’s team, which placed 15th out of 19 schools, one week after placing second in the conference championships.

A young team, however, got some valuable big-meet experience, something Elmore feels will stand to them going forward.

“It wasn’t what we wanted, but everyone ran hard,” the coach said.

Mathew Guerrero was next best for the men in 68th, followed by teammates Josh Hunt and Alejandro Osorio in 98th and 100th, respectively.

For the CR women, Hailey Hopkins led the way, finishing 65th in a time of 22:02, followed by teammates Ruth Gross (70th) and Abigael Gulley (91st).

The state race will take place in Fresno in two weeks.

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Ray Hamill writes at humboldtsports.com, where you can read lots more about sports in Humboldt County.