RIVERSIDE-- With several runners making their season debuts, the nationally-ranked UC Santa Cruz cross country teams had several outstanding performances at the UC Riverside Invitational.
The No. 21 women were 11th and the 22nd-ranked men placed 17th against a loaded field of several Division I runners.
In the Women's Invite 6K,
Riley Martel-Phillips bettered her personal best by over 20 seconds to place 32nd in 21:17.8. The time was also the second-fastest 6K in program history.
Hanna Hekkanen finished 64th in 21:55. It was a 44-second PR for the junior and also a program Top Ten time.
Helena Janku (22:05.4) and
Elena Stanciu (22:06.7) were 72nd and 73rd in the race respectively, both with new PRs.
The rest of the Banana Slug squad were
Iris Abegglen (22:29.6),
Kenzie Seymour (22:36.1),
Luna Centeno (22:59.9),
Cheryl Chuang (23:16.7),
Emma Wirz (23:24.8), and
Andrea Gallardo (23:49.6).
For the men, defending conference champion
Eric Jackson led the team with a time of 24:35.9 to place 55th.
Eric Anderson was 96th in 25:06.7 and
Casey Orton was 102nd after finishing in in 25:09.9.
Eric Jackson (photo courtesy of UCSC Cross Country)
Other runners for the men's team included
Raymond Ingersoll (25:22.6),
Camden Jaureguy (25:40.6),
Brett Bailey (25:42.6),
Holden Spencer (25:47.0),
Marcus Fehlman (25:48.8),
Camden Hebert (26:22.3), and
Viktor Kieturakis (26:24.5). Newcomers Jaureguy, Fehlman, and Kieturakis all posted PRs from their college debuts two weeks ago.
The Banana Slugs next run in two weeks in Lodi at the University of the Pacific Invitational.
