Sept. 18, 2009

LAS VEGAS - UNLV cross country continues its 2009 season this weekend, running at the 29th annual UC Riverside Cross Country, which will be held at the UCR Agriculture Operations Course on Saturday morning.

Rebel head coach Tony Houchin will have 11 runners competing in the race, which is a 5k run that is over a predominately flat course with a few rolling hills that will take runners through orange groves and eucalyptus trees. A race that UNLV is annually in, the squad finished 10th at last year's event and is looking to improve upon that placing this year.

"Last meet we had a pretty tight pack, and for this meet I would like to see if we can keep that tight pack and move up a little higher in the field," Houchin said. "It is still early in the season and we have a lot of work to do. This will give us a good idea of where we stand compared to past Rebel teams."

The women's 5k invitational race is slated to start at 7:30 a.m. (PT) and representing the Rebels will be Courtney Allen, Lucy Beuster, Lexie Bravo, Bailey Kuestermeyer, Ali Motor, Lauren Petersen, Shannon Simpson, Samantha Swan, Amber Throop and Amaris Williams. Rebel junior Brandie Pena will also run in another women's 5k race that will start at 9:00 a.m.

This is the second of four regular season meets in California that the Rebels will run in before competing in the 2009 Mountain West Conference Championships on Oct. 31 in Provo, Utah.