RIVERSIDE, Calif. - UC Riverside shined in the second of two home meets this season, winning the team title on the men's side and placing third for the women in Saturday morning's Highlander Invitational at the Ag/Ops Course.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Ashraf Abdelmagid (5:50.4) and Andrew Castellon (5:40.6) were one and two at the first split as UCR led the pack after 2,000 meters with 49 points. Tyler Kaan (5:42.1) followed up at the 2k juncture in 15th and Abdelmagid maintained first place 2,000 meters later at 11:27.4 while the Highlanders stayed in first with 36 points. 
• Kaan jumped five spots at the 4k juncture and Joshua Mendoza jumped 16 spots, as both were in the top 15 at 5,500 meters with Abdelmagid still leading the way. 
• Kaan and Mendoza weren't done climbing, vaulting into the top six with 500 meters left as UCR kept its first-place standing. 
• Linda Perez led the women's race at the first split, running through the 2k juncture in 6:23.2 and stayed in first through another 2,000 meters while UCR held down third as a team. Dariana Miramontes also jumped a spot into sixth with 2,000 meters remaining.
• Miramontes' final kick in the last split proved to be her best when it mattered most, catapulting her into a top-three finish to lead UCR. The Highlanders finished third on the women's side with 95 points thanks to three runners finishing in the top 20, including Isatu N'Diaye's 12-spot jump over the final 2,000 meters to finish 16th. 

FROM COACH NEWSOME

• "The men had probably our best team performance ever today. We got our first Highlander Invite win since 2014 and experimented with some different race strategies. I'm really pleased with the effort there."
• "The ladies had some higher expectations as a team and came up a bit short, but we have a couple weeks to get ready for conference and I anticipate a stronger performance there. That being said, Dariana Miramontes ran the fastest time ever in a UCR uniform on our home course today, which was really exciting to see."

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS

• UC Riverside captured its first men's team win at the Highlander Invitational since 2014 with 63 points on Saturday morning. 
• UCR enjoyed plenty of PRs on Saturday morning, both on the men's and women's side. The Highlander mens' top-three trio of Mendoza (23:51.5), Kaan (23:59.9) and Abdelmagid (24:07.3) all recorded new personal bests, while Miramontes (20:11.0) and N'Diaye (20:52.5) were the featured PRs on the women's side. 
• Mendoza's new PR took over 10th on the program's all-time 8k list while Miramontes' is now the second fastest women's 6k in school history and the fastest Highlander time at the Ag/Ops course. 

UP NEXT

• UC Riverside will travel to the Titan Invite next Friday in Fullerton before competing at the Big West Championship on October 28 as hosted by Cal Poly.