Sept. 10, 2005

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - Jennifer Shearer led the UNLV women's cross country team in her first collegiate meet as the freshman was the Rebels' highest finisher Saturday morning at the UC Irvine Invitational held at Central Park.

Schearer, a true freshman from Ft. Wayne, Ind., made her debut by covering the 5K course in 19:46.3 to finish 41st, helping UNLV to a 16th place finish in the 17-team field event. Schearer was the only Rebel runner to finish in the top 100.

Chico State won the women's team title with 48 points, followed by UC Irvine with 78 and Long Beach State with 95. Katie Lee of Chico State won the 5,000-meter race in 17:59.1.

Ashley Pierce-Callihan was the next Rebel to cross the finish line, coming in 113 th with a time of 21:25.1. She was followed by Katie Hughes (121st, 21:37.9), Erin Hammond (125th, 21:46.9) and Ali Ainsworth (128th, 21:53.8). Also running for UNLV was Leta Rose (133rd, 22:04.4), Janessa Hoppe (136th, 22:08.8) and Ashley Lif (146th, 22:25.40).

Chico State also captured the men's team championship with 18 points, Long Beach State was second with 63, UC Santa Barbara third with 104 and UCI finished fourth with 119 points. Scotty Bauhs of Chico State won the 8,000-meter race in 22:14.7.

UNLV continues its season next Saturday, returning to the Golden State for the UC San Diego Invite held in San Diego.

Fans can get full results of the meet by clicking here.