Sept. 18, 2010

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Lauren Petersen led the UNLV cross country team to a 12th place finish at the UC Riverside Cross Country Invitational this morning in Riverside, Calif. Petersen, who finished 11th, concluded the 5000m (5k) race with a personal-best time of 17:32.9, which was also the fourth fastest time for that distance in program history.

The Rebels collected 359 points for 12th in the 24-team field and had a contingent of eight harriers take part in the race. Arkansas (30 points) won the event after placing four of its runners in the top eight and all seven within the top 24 finishers. Southern Utah finished second with 105 points, while Loyola Marymount was third with 113 points. Loyola Marymount's Tara Edmann won the race with a time of 16:45.4.

"This is the first time since I've been at UNLV that we've had this many runners under 19:00 for a 5k," noted head coach Tony Houchin. "Whereas, I would've liked a better team finish as a result, I am happy with the direction the team is going. Getting a runner as young as Lauren (Petersen) in UNLV's top 10 all-time for the 5k is a good sign for the future. It is still early in the season and we'll keep getting better."

Sarah Muniz time of 18:11.3 was good enough for 56th, while Alison Bartosch took 85th (18:32.1), Lucy Beuster was 109th (18:52.7), Courtney Allen finished 127th (19:19.8), Shannon Simpson came in 148th (19:33.8), Ali Motor was 148th (20:09.9) and Samantha Swan closed out the Rebel seven in 155th (20:24.7).

The team returns to action on Oct. 2 at the Loyola-Chicago's Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational in Chicago.