Oct. 14, 2017
RIVERSIDE, Calif. -
Running the fastest 5K of her collegiate career, senior Lily Seynaeve led San Diego State cross country to a seventh-place finish at the Highlander Invitational, hosted by UC Riverside's AgOps Course, Saturday.
"Today's race went to plan," Seynaeve said. "We wanted to get out fast and hang on fast, and this worked out really well. This race gave us a lot of confidence going into the Conference meet and Regionals."
The Corona, Calif., native crossed the finish line in 17:37.8 for her collegiate personal best and seventh place. It was the third fastest time recorded by an Aztec on the UCR AgOps Course in program history and the fastest 5K by any Aztec since Christine Kent recorded a 17:07.59 time at last year's Highlander Invitational. Seynaeve's time bested her previous 5K PR of 18:03, which she ran earlier this year at the UNLV Invitational.
"My strategy today was to go out fast and battle it out with the top pack of runners," said Seynaeve. "I was in the fourth-fifth spots for a while and the pack was pretty physical. I made some strong moves against tough competitors. I've been hitting my PRs on the dot throughout the season so it was time I broke through."
Freshman Mackenzie Mora was SDSU's second finisher for the second consecutive 5K, placing 46th among Division I runners with an 18:43.3 time. Â
Classmate Renee Phillips crossed the finish line in a collegiate-best 18:52.8, which was good enough for 53rd. Senior Cindy Flores took 60th with her 19:01.2, while junior Chrissy Calain clocked in at 19:29.2 for 73rd place.
San Diego State finished seventh with 227 points behind race-winner UC Santa Barbara (50 points), Cal State Fullerton (67), UC Riverside (71), San Diego (102), Long Beach State (142) and UNLV (195). USC (243), CSUN (258), UC Irvine (264) and Pepperdine (272) were the Aztecs' remaining Division I competitors. SDSU logged a 1:33.44 team time, the fifth fastest on the UCR AgOps Course in the SDSU history.
The Scarlet and Black is off for a week before heading to the Mountain West Championship, hosted by New Mexico, on Fri., Oct. 27.
Highlander Invitational (5K)
UCR AgOps Course - Riverside, Calif.
Oct. 14, 2017
5,000-Meter Division I Women Team Results
1. UC Santa Barbara - 50
2. Cal State Fullerton - 67
3. UC Riverside - 71
4. San Diego - 102
5. Long Beach State - 142
6. UNLV - 195
7. San Diego State - 227
8. USC - 243
9. CSUN - 258
10. UC Irvine - 264
11. Pepperdine - 272
5,000-Meter Collegiate Women Individual Results (Top 5 of 103 runners + SDSU)
1. Jenna Hinkle (UCSB) - 16:48.0
2. Faith Makau (UCR) - 17:01.2
3. Weslie Pearcee (UCR) - 17:14.0
4. Katie Camarena (UCSB) - 17:23.0
5. Samantha Huerta (CSUF) - 17:27.4
--
9. Lily Seynaeve (SDSU) - 17:37.8 (PR)
46. Mackenzie Mora (SDSU) - 18:43.3
53. Renee Phillips (SDSU) - 18:52.8 (PR)
60. Cindy Flores (SDSU) - 19:01.2
73. Chrissy Calain (SDSU) - 19:29.2