Women’s XC Lands on Podium Once More, Men Join in Second Place Finish

It was another strong showing for the Riverside City cross country program as both sides traveled to Central Park in Huntington Beach, CA to participate in the Golden West Invitational. After both teams earned top-five rankings in the Southern region earlier this week, their status will continue to rise the elevator after another strong performance.

The women continue to make an argument for one of the strongest, if not the strongest, squad in the region and state. The Tiger placed first overall for the third time this season after edging out fellow Orange Empire Conference (OEC) foe Orange Coast. They have yet to miss the podium this season.

Sophomore Ariel Martinez paced her team with a sixth place finish at 20:16.24. She continues to be in the top two for her team by earning five points.

Freshman Aeriel Madrigal earned her highest finish of the season at ninth overall. She crossed the finish line with a time of 20:34.81, while freshman Briana Rodriguez cruised across the line at 20:43.58 to earn 20:43.58.

Freshman Maria Rojas and sophomore Aliy Camacho finished consecutively with Rojas placing 14^th overall with a time of 21:07.98. Camacho finished four seconds later at a mark of 21:11.26.

The men placed comfortably in second after being edged out by Orange Coast. It was freshman Jordan Wilson who paved the trail for Riverside once again as seen in a ninth place finish at a time of 21:48.15. Freshman Ricardo Cruz landed just outside the top-10 with an 11^th place finish with a clip of 21:58.65.

Freshman Joshua Briscoe was part of the lead pack by crossing the line at a time of 22:04.09 to earn 14^th place. Freshman Andrew Hess landed in the top-20 with an 18^th place finish at 22:22.7.

Riverside will take two weeks off and return to action on Friday, October 11 for the Brubaker Invitational at Irvine Park at 8 a.m.