Women’s Cross Country Finishes Fifth at UR Invitational

The Riverside City College women's cross-country team kicked off this year's campaign by competing in the University of Redlands Invitational in the beautiful confines of Ted Runner Stadium. The Tigers put together a solid showing with new faces hitting the course leading to a fifth overall finish.

The Tigers competed against four-year competition that featured Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Cal Poly Pomona, Caltech and Redlands. Riverside placed ahead of the lone two-year competitor, LA Harbor, but 10 seconds.

Freshman Dakota Zamarripa kicked off her collegiate career by being the top finisher with a 40^th overall finish at a time of 19:75.5

"It felt good," said Zamarripa post cool down. "I now know what I have to work on, but it will help me prepare for the next race."

It is always a tough challenge when competing in the first race as a college athlete, but Zamarripa has a plan leading into her next race.

"I need to get use to the feeling of being uncomfortable and finding the ability to keep pushing even when it gets hard."

The personal race plan for Zamarripa has remained consistent throughout her entire career. It was nothing new for her expect for a new year and a new uniform.

"I went into today with no expectations other than to do well and have fun. I tried to keep myself in the race for most of it and see how that played out."

Freshman Danielle Torres finished inside the top-50 with a 44^th overall finish at a time of 20:05.6 to kick off her collegiate journey. Freshman duo Lidia Barrios and Adileni Pacheco finished consecutively with times of 21:53.4 and 22:01.2.

Rounding out the top five was freshman Manianna Ruiz with a 59^th place mark reading 22:22.2. Sophomore Elani Huntley did not finish after pacing the Tigers for the majority of the race due to injury concerns.