Men’s & Women’s Cross Country Top Division I Programs at Titan Invitational
The men's and women's cross country teams hit the road to compete in the Titan Invitational at Cal State Fullerton this past Friday against various schools ranging from the community college to Division I levels. The Tiger performed fantastically with both sides topping Division I Cal State Fullerton and placing third overall and second amongst non-Division I schools.
Women
Riverside strung together another very strong performance by placing third overall and second amongst non-Division I competitors. They earned a total team time of 1:36:05 which was one-minute shy of Division I Loyola Marymount's time.
Freshman Sarah Hollis continued her reign on the podium by placing third overall with an overall clip of 17:57.2. Her time included an overall mile mark of 5:46.7. So far this season, Hollis has placed third or higher in all but one meet.
Sophomore Robin Valencia was the next-best finisher for the Tigers as she placed 14th overall with a mark of 18:40.5. Sophomore tandem Carissa Gomez and Samantha Chapa fished back-to-back and were separated by four one hundredths of a second.
Men
The men saw the same exact output in the standings as they placed third overall and second among Division I competitors. They earned a total team time of 25:11.
Freshman Enrique Villa was the top finisher for the Tigers as he crossed the finish line with a time of 24:42.6 which included an average mile mark of 4:58.2.
Sophomore Ricardo Cardenas and freshman Gabriel Sanchez finished in the top 20 with Cardenas landing in 16th place. He finished the meet with a time of 25:02.1. Sanchez rounded out the top 20 with a mark of 25:08.6.
"We are in a good position right now going into the conference championships next weekend," said Head Coach Jim McCarron. "he guys raced great even having a tough two weeks of training."
The men look to make it three Orange Empire Conference (OEC) championships in a row as they enter ingot the championship meet along with the women on Friday, October 27th.