Meet Week Preview
UC Riverside Invitational (6K)
Saturday, Sept. 14 | 7:30 a.m. PT | UCR Ag Ops Course | Riverside, Calif.
Media Coverage: Live Results (Finished Results)
The San Diego State cross country team heads to Riverside, Calif. on Saturday to compete in the annual UC Riverside Invitational.
The 6k race begins at 7:30 a.m. and results will be available on the Finished Results app as well on GoAztecs.com. 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 will be competing against Cal Poly, California Baptist, Fresno State, Hawai'i, Long Beach State, Pepperdine, Sacramento State, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara and USC, among others.
Paige Comiso, Isabelle Davis, Bella Goode, Lauren Harper, Jessica Kain, Carlene Masar and Naomi Smitham will be running the 6k Invitational for the Aztecs. Sonja Andenmatten, Nyjari McNeil and Sakura Roberson will be running in the 5k Open at 8:40 a.m.
Last Time Out
The Aztecs finished in eighth place out of 21 teams at the Mark Covert Classic 5k two weeks ago. Sophomores Carlene Masar and Marissa D'Atri paced the Aztecs with a time of 19:15.4.
"Given the fact it was our first race of the season, I thought we ran reasonably well," Coach Robert Lusitana said after the race. "Conditions were warm and humid, which affected everyone's race times. We had good grouping one through five and one through seven, which is a good sign overall."
SDSU had four returners competing in their first collegiate meet: Lauren Harper (47th; 19:34.2), Jessica Kain (51st; 19:36.2), Alex Lomeli (19:47.6) and Bella Goode (90th; 20:22.5).
Aztec Storylines
• The Aztecs have been running in the UC Riverside Invitational since 2003, but have only been running the 6k event since 2014. The SDSU course record for the 6k is held by Christine Kent, who finished in 20:47.8 in 2016. Caitlyn Couch was the Aztecs' top finisher last year with a time of 21:46.6 and SDSU took seventh place out of 21 teams. Carlene Masar had the second-best time for the Aztecs, finishing in 21:47.0.
• This will be the first collegiate 6k for freshmen Bella Goode, Lauren Harper and Jessica Kain. Sonja Andenmatten will be making her collegiate debut by running the 5k Open.
• Carlene Masar has finished top two among Aztec runners in every race she has run.
Aztecs Competing in UC Riverside Invitational Saturday
