Women's Cross Country Finishes 3rd At 2017 Highlander Invitational, Places Three Runners In Top-10

Saturday, October 14

Riverside, CA

8:30 AM

UC Riverside

Highlander invitational

Women's Cross Country Finishes 3rd At 2017 Highlander Invitational, Places Three Runners In Top-10

10/14/2017 9:59:00 AM | Women's Cross Country

Riverside, CA—With three runners placing in the top-8, the UC Riverside Women's Cross Country Team had a team score of 71, taking third overall as hosts of the 6th Annual Highlander Invitational. Redshirt senior Faith Makau led the Highlanders with a 5k time of 17:01.2, good for second-place out of 135 runners.

Full results for the meet can be found here. A photo gallery for the event can be found here.

2017 Highlander Invitational
Place (Score)	Student-Athlete	Time
2 (2)	Faith Makau	17:01.2
3 (3)	Weslie Pearce	17:14.0
8 (8)	Emily Sanchez	17:36.6
21 (21)	Samantha Poliakon	18:08.5
35	Alison Soto *	18:25.2
39 (37)	Kiley Atwood	18:30.1
45 (41)	Alyssa Tran	18:34.5
65 (54)	Haley Cabrera	18:57.8
78	Leslie Rivera	19:14.7
126	Clarissa Chagolla	22:33.7
x
	* Ran unattached

MEET NOTES
Faith Makau's time of 17:01.2 set a new personal-record for this event. Her fastest previous time was 17:06, set at the 2016 Highlander Invitational (recap). She has now led the Highlanders across the finish line in seven consecutive meets. This also marks the tenth top-five finish of her career and the first time she has ever finished in second-place overall.

Redshirt senior Weslie Pearce also set a personal-best with a time of 17:14.0. Her previous record of 17:17.7 was set when she finished second overall in the 2015 Highlander Invitational (recap). The third-place finish was her best of the season and tied for the second-best of her career.

Junior Emily Sanchez' eighth-place finish was the highest of her career. Her time of 17:36.6 was nearly a minute faster than her previous best at this event, set in the 2016 Highlander Invitational (18:22). Her only other career top-10 finish came in the season-opening Nevada Twilight Classic back on September 1.

Also setting personal-bests in this event were sophomores Samantha Poliakon (18:08.5) and Leslie Rivera (19:14.7).

The Highlanders had a season-high nine runners participating in this meet. Sophomore Clarissa Chagolla ran for the first time this season.

This was the second of three home meets for UC Riverside this season. The Highlanders will be back to host the Big West Championship on Saturday, October 28.

UCR Men's 6k Recap