RIVERSIDE, Calif. (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV women's cross country team finished fourth overall at the UC Riverside Invitational in the Open 5K, which was held Saturday morning at UCR's Ag/Ops Course.
UNLV finished with a score of 113 points and a team time of 1:33:34. Pomona-Pitzer claimed the top spot in the team standings with a score of 35 and a team time of 1:31:00. Claremont-Mudd-Scripp was second, UC Irvine was third and Redlands rounded out the top five. There were 26 teams competing.
"I am very proud of how the ladies looked and performed today," new UNLV Track & Field/Cross Country Head Coach Dorian Scott said. "We executed some of our goals and put ourselves in a position to continue growing as a group and learning how to run together."
Rebel freshman Natalia Ruiz placed first individually with a time of 17:26.4, while CBU's Cynthia Martin was second at 17:43.2.
"I felt strong, especially in taking over first place about two miles into the race," Ruiz said. "I didn't look back and pressed the pace to the finish."
"I am very happy that Natalia got the win," Scott continued. "She looked great out there, leading a majority of the race and that's not easy at all in cross country. The future is bright for this program, we just need to keep improving one competition at a time."
Other UNLV individuals in the top 60: sophomore LaKyla Yazzie placed 10th (18:29.2) and set a personal record as she consistently moved towards the leaders, finishing strong and passing 43 competitors to the tape, junior Mackenzie Moss was 33rd (19:01.6), freshman Lauren Felknor was 34th (19:06.1) and junior Rebecca Green was 55th (19:30.4).
Other Rebel standouts included sophomore Stephanie Zamora and freshman Aitza Romero. Nearly all of the UNLV student-athletes produced new personal best times at the UC Riverside Invitational, some over a minute including senior Jasmine Perez.
There were a total of 185 runners competing in the event.
In four weeks, the team, which is led by Scott and volunteer coach Zaven O'Bryant, will return to UCR for the Highlander Invite in October.
NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV will be back in action next week at the San Diego Community College Downey Classic on Friday, September 24.
