Women’s Cross Country Lands on Podium at SoCal Preview, Men Place Seventh Overall

After a strong start to the season, the Riverside City College cross country programs was put to the ultimate test on Friday afternoon as they competed in the SoCal Preview against all southern competitors. The women's landed on the podium with a third-place finish, while the men landed in seventh place.

Despite not having a single runner land in the top-10, Riverside hauled in the gold by maintaining a consistent approach in their strategy. Sophomore Ariel Martinez paced the pack for the Tigers as seen in a 12^th-place finish at a time of 20:25.2. Sophomore Emiliana Merida Cano snuck into the top-20 by a mere two second with a final clip reading 20:56.1.

Freshman Maria Rojas followed with a time of 21:28.9 to earn her 26^th place, backed by freshman Helena Valdez finishing with a mark of 21:40.9 to land in 33^rd place.

The men rallied behind freshman Jordan Wilson for the third-consecutive week as he placed 26^th overall with a time of 22:14.5. Sophomore Matthew Lieberman followed at 36^th overall with a time of 22:28.5, while freshman Alberto Lopez landed in 39^th place at a time of 22:33.6.

Riverside will compete at the Golden West Invitational on Friday, September 20 at 10 a.m.