Multiple Personal Bests for Cross Country at Highlander Invitational

Saturday, October 19

Riverside, Calif.

8:00 A.M.

UC Riverside

Highlander Invitational

Photo by: Carlos Puma

Multiple Personal Bests for Cross Country at Highlander Invitational

10/19/2019 6:45:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The UC Riverside Cross Country teams had their most successful meet of the season at their second home event of the season. Both the men's and women's teams finished in fifth place out of 21 and 23 teams, respectively.

Director of Cross Country/Track and Field Nate Browne was very pleased with the team's performance today, "Today was our best race day in terms of execution. Coach Hansen laid out a fantastic race plan and challenged the kids to work the middle sections of the course. They bought into that and as a result, we had a lot of lifetime bests and season bests."

The men were again led by senior standout Arman Irani who placed fifth overall in the men's 8k with a spectacular time of 24:23.43. Irani's time was not only a person best by 28 seconds but it was also the 4^th fastest in school history since 2004.

Assistant coach Rob Hansen talked about Irani's strong day, "Arman put himself in a position to be successful early and he continually battled in pivotal spots."

Sophomore Antonio Carbajal was the second highest finisher for the highlanders as he finished 26^th with a time of 25:04.87. Not far behind Carbajal was sophomore Isaac Acosta who ran for a time of 25:14.13 which was good for 35^th place. Acosta's run was his career best by a whopping 53 seconds as the sophomore showed great improvement at the second home meet.

Coming in 39^th for the men's side was senior James Sever as he ran for a time of 25:16.53. Sever also broke a personal best by 14 seconds.

Junior Carlos Rivera broke his junior college record by over a minute as he ran for a time of 25:42.21 which placed him at 60^th. Other personal bests were sophomore Blake Starbuck by 54 seconds at 26:03.94 and junior Austin Dai by four seconds at 26:08.15.

The women's 6k also saw great results as they were led by senior Emily Sanchez as she placed 14^th with a time of 21:31.59. Sanchez has continued her strong season for the Highlanders as she has led the team in multiple meets this season.

"Emily was 20 seconds faster than she was last month. She's finally healthy and confident and she's hitting her stride exactly when she needs to. She's gritty and I know she's going to continue to blossom for the next two weeks before the Big West championships," Hansen said.

Junior Haley Cabrera also had a strong meet as she finished 22^nd with a time of 21:50.87. Cabrera and Sanchez have been the 1-2 punch for the Highlanders so far in the season and will look to continue to bring that into the postseason.

Rounding out the top four finishes for UCR was junior Kiley Atwood with a top-30 finish at 29^th with a time of 22:00.80 and sophomore Vanessa Gracian in 31^st with a time of 22:02.25.

Hansen talked about the women's potential after this race, "Each of our front four were steady and showed glimpses of what's to come for championship season. We are very confident that have the personnel to step up and solidify that final scoring spot."

Browne talked about the execution and how it aligned with their preparation, "It's always fun for the coaches and the athletes when the mental and physical preparation meet on the same day."

It was a very positive showing for the Highlanders on their home turf as they will finish off their regular season next Friday, October 25th for the Titan Invitational. The following weekend is the Big West Championship on November 2^nd.