Oct. 12, 2017
SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State cross country will look to defend its title as the Highlander Invitational (5K) reigning champion at the 2017 iteration of the meet on Sat., Oct. 14, hosted by UC Riverside.
The women's 5K will start at 8:30 a.m. PT and follows the men's 6K, which is set for 8 a.m. PT.
The meet will be held at the UCR AgOps Course, which is adjacent to the UCR campus on the corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Canyon Crest Drive. General parking is available at UCR Lot 30 for $5. From the 215/60 freeway, exit Martin Luther King and go west. Pass through the Canyon Crest traffic light and make a right into UCR Lot 30.
The UC Riverside course is mostly flat with a few rolling hills, winding through orange groves and eucalyptus trees. It has hard-packed dirt with pre-competition watering to reduce dust.
The Aztecs and host Highlanders will be joined by Division I squads from CSUN, Long Beach State, UC Irvine, UNLV and USC. Also competing in the meet are teams from College of the Canyons, San Bernadino Valley College and UC Merced.
Entered into the race for SDSU are Chrissy Calain, Cindy Flores, Mackenzie Mora, Renee Phillips and Lily Seynaeve.
San Diego State is the reigning Highlander Invitational Division I champion, winning last year's meet by beating out Cal State Fullerton, UC Riverside, UC Irvine, USC, Cal State Northridge and Long Beach State.
Christine Kent raced to the eighth-best time in San Diego State cross country history with her second-place finish. The senior from San Diego finished just 0:01.45 second out of the top spot, earned by Faith Makau of the host UC Riverside (17:06.14).
Classmate Angel Bucci bested her own PR by 1:06, finishing the race in 17:42.73 for seventh. Junior Lily Seynaeve also recorded a PR, logging a 17:45.16 time for eighth (previous PR was 18:14.5). Elaine Ribeiro posted an 18:02.93 mark for 14th, followed closely by Cassidy Towner in 15th (18:05.3). Cali King (18:43.72, 35th) and Cindy Flores (18:49.52, 40th) rounded out the Aztecs' finishers.