RIVERSIDE, Calif. – After a week away from competition the University of Redlands Cross-Country teams returned to action Saturday morning for the 41st Annual UC Riverside Invitational taking place at the UCR AG OPS Course.
The men's team came in ninth-place with a team average time of 26:29 (2:12.28), finishing ahead of a number of opponents from a higher division, which included Pepperdine, UC San Diego, Biola University, Concordia University Irvine, Arizona Christian, Hope International, College of Southern Nevada, and Cal State L.A.
For the women, they took eleventh in the Open Division with a team average time of 19:32 (1:37.44). They too beat a number of programs from a higher Division, including San Diego, Pepperdine, Concordia University Irvine, Vanguard, The Master's, San Marcos, College of Southern Nevada, and Cal State L.A.
Men
The Maroon and Grey were led by Enrique Verschoor (Mar del Plata, Argentina), coming in 30th with an 8K time of 25:47.3. He improved his mile average time from the Redlands Invite from 5:15.4 down to 5:11.3.
Coming in 74th and 76th places were Nolan Brown (La Crescenta, CA) and Ronan Byrne (Portola Valley, CA). Brown ran a 26:35.9 and Byrne was right behind with a 26:36.5. For Byrne his time is a new personal best, beating his previous best by 39.5 seconds. Brown reduced his mile time by 8.1 seconds and Byrne by 5.8 seconds.
Other finishers inside the Top 100, included Rogelio Salcido (84th – 26:43.3), Riley Lathrop (89th – 26:45.6), and Brandon Farnsworth (95th – 26:52.4).
Women
Chloe Bullock (Hood River, CA) remains red hot for the Maroon and Grey this season finishing as the top Division III finisher, coming in sixth place with a time of 18:16.9. Her time is a new personal best in the 5K. She also dropped her mile time by a whopping 27.3 seconds from the Redlands Invite two weeks ago.
Joining her with a Top-100 finish was first-year Eve Mavy (Thayne, WY) who ran a 19:23.3 in her first collegiate 5K. Mavy, who finished 75th also made a massive improvement in her average mile time by dropping 33.5 seconds.
The Bulldogs will return to competition in two weeks when they compete at the Pepperdine Waves Invitational on Saturday, October 1 at 8:00 a.m.