The University of Redlands men's and women's cross country teams opened the 2017 season by hosting the Redlands Invitational on Saturday morning on campus and at nearby Sylvan Park.  With some runners gaining their collegiate debut at the race, the Bulldog women finished third while the men took second in the team standings. 

Overall, Cal State San Bernardino's women produced five top-10 finishers to win the competition.  On the men's side, San Bernardino Valley College stepped up with four among the fastest 10 to land atop the leaderboard.  Individually, LA Harbor's Brenda Rosales won the 4500-meter women's race with a time of 16:59.85.  The men were paced by Michael Ramirez from SBVC with a time of 19:32.28 on the 6k-course.

For Redlands, the women gained 66 points, which was just one point off of second place in the team standings.  Sophomore Maria Ramirez served as the Bulldogs' top finisher with her sixth-place showing in 17:39.20.  She was closely followed by six teammates all among the top 25 in the race. 

Freshman Desiree Cadena (San Jose, CA) made her first appearance in collegiate competition with a 10th-place time of 17:53.76, while senior Kaylee Jorgensen (Claremont, CA) completed the final Redlands Invitational of her four-year career in 14th place by crossing the finish line in 18:10.19 for a 33-second improvement from last season. Freshman Deena Kirrish (Fontana, CA) registered a 17th-place time of 18:29.85 in her inaugural college competition for a solid outing, as sophomore Sarah Shipway (Lafayette, CA) and senior Emily Guthormsen (Morgan Hill, CA) rounded the top-20 runners with respective times of 18:36.78 and 18:43.11.

The Bulldog men placed five among the fastest 25 competitors at the Redlands Invitational, with juniors Joseph Esparza (Arcata, CA) and Benjamin Casey (Highland Park, IL) leading the charge.  First-year transfer Esparza ran the 6k in 19:45.67 for fourth place, while Casey took fifth in 19:50.64.  Freshman Henry Tucker Cargile (Denver, CO) made the most of his Redlands debut with an 11th-place time of 20:02.21.  Senior Sean Unger (Carlsbad, CA) closely followed in 12th by crossing the finish line 20:08.45.  Junior Kyle Yano (Foothill Ranch, CA) shaved off more than a minute from last year's race with his 24th-place time of 21:06.57.

Redlands looks forwards to competing in the UC Riverside Invitational on Saturday, September 16, at 7:30 a.m.