SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The University of California, Riverside (UCR) Cross Country team traveled to the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento to compete in the NCAA West Regional.

UC Riverside's women's team finished 25th out of 35 teams with 679 points (51-102-145-185-196), coming in 18 points behind Long Beach State.

All-Big West student-athlete Linda Perez led the way with a 51st place finish. Perez ran the 6,000-meter course in 20:57.6.

The men finished 27th overall at the NCAA West Regional Championships Friday, with 725 points (123-143-144-157-158).

Ashraf Abdelmagid was the first Highlander to cross the finish line for the men, finishing 124th with a time of 32:28.4.

Head Coach Nate Browne said, "It's always tough to bring a few people to the Cross Country NCAA regional that have never been to this level of a meet. In our case, the entire racing group was here for the first time. While many competed well, the outcomes weren't what we wanted." He continued, "We'll be back and better prepared with this experience in our back pocket. I'm looking forward to what this group can accomplish with Coach Newsom moving forward."

Coach Newsom also commented on this being the group's first experience on the national stage, saying, "Today was a learning experience for us. Every UCR athlete on the line for us was experiencing the big stage for the first time, so it was a brand new experience, especially for the men moving up in distance to 10k."

Newsom believes there is nowhere to go but up for this group, commenting, "The results today were the floor for what this team is going to accomplish moving forward and it was a necessary step to achieving greater things in the long run."