The University of California, Riverside (UCR) Highlanders traveled to Fighting Irish territory to compete in the Joe Piane Invitational hosted by Notre Dame on Friday, September 30.

The women's team came up with a fifth place team finish in the Gold 5K, with a total time of 1:29.41. Collette Lowengrub finished third overall with a time of 17:03.4. The next Highlander to cross the tape was Riley Jones, with a time of 17:36.2 for a 17th place finish. Carolinh Calvert finished at 17:55.3, placing 32 overall.

The men's team finished second overall in the Gold Five Mile, with a total time of 2:04.50. Aiden Davis led the squad with sixth place finish overall, crossing the finish line at 24:35.5 to pace the group. Tyler Kaan finished next for the Highlanders with a time of 24:40.1, for a 12th place finish overall. Joshua Mendoza finished next for the Highlanders at 17th overall, with a time of 24:51.9. The men's team had an impressive 1-5 spot gap of just 47 seconds 

Distance Coach Zach Newsom commented on the teams' performance saying, "I thought we did our job today. We came across the country to a prestigious meet and executed our race plan well and came away with a couple of top 5 team finishes." He continued, "We can head home with even more confidence in our abilities and know we are ready for continued improvement over the next 4 or 5 weeks until the postseason. I am happy with the races, but we are still hungry!"

UCR returns home to host the Highlander Invitational next on October 15.