TERRE HAUTE, IND. --- A solid 2016 season for the California cross country teams came to a close on Saturday morning when the Golden Bear men's team, along with junior Bethan Knights of the women's team, competed at the NCAA Championships at the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course.

Knights completed the opening race of the meet - the women's 6K - among the top 100 in the country, logging a 89th place finish in 20:47.3. The men's team, led by top finisher Robert Brandt, placed 31st with 776 points. Brandt ran the 109th place time in the men's 10K race with a time of 30:57.4. Garrett Corcoran and John Lawson rounded out the Cal runners in the top 200, finishing in 177th and 199th, respectively.

For the men's team, Saturday's appearance marked only the second time since 1981 that Cal advanced to Nationals in back-to-back years, having done so in 2007 (16th place) and 2008 (22nd). Knights made her first trip to NCAAs since placing 25th at the 2014 Championships as a freshman. Her appearance as an individual gave the women's program a presence at the final meet for the sixth time in the past seven years - five individual bids and an 18th place team performance in 2011.

WOMEN'S RESULTS (PLACE / ATHLETE / TIME / POINTS)
89 / Bethan Knights / 20:47.3 / N/A

MEN'S RESULTS (PLACE / ATHLETE / TIME / POINTS)
109 / Robert Brandt / 30:57.4 / 86
177 / Garrett Corcoran / 31:26.0 / 145
199 / John Lawson / 31:41.3 / 166
222 / Paul Zeiss / 31:58.0 / 185
231 / Kai Benedict / 32:10.7 / 194
247 / Steve Correa / 33:17.2 / 78

POST-MEET QUOTES
Head Coach Shayla Houlihan

Overall Thoughts On The Meets
"Today was a tough day for the team. The bone chilling temperatures made for an interesting race all around. That's something you cannot always prepare for but they all fought a good fight. On a bright note, all 8 of these athletes will return next year. I expect to return this men's team along with a women's team next year. They learned an invaluable amount about themselves and each other out there. I know this will spur them on to bigger things come indoor and outdoor season. I was very proud of all of them today."

On The Status Of Trent Brendel
"Trent Brendel, our solid first or second guy all season, went down with a hamstring issue in the first two miles which impacted the team score significantly."