Both of UC Riverside’s cross country teams headed up to Seattle, Washington to compete in the NCAA West Regional Championships this weekend. The Highlanders competed against great teams such as Stanford, UCLA, Cal Poly and many other strong cross country programs at their six and 10K races. Riverside’s women also looked to become a top 10 team, as they went into Friday ranked fourteenth in the West Region conference.
UC Riverside’s women went into Friday having been led by strong runner Damajeria Dubose in their previous runs, and this race proved no different. The 6K started at 1:15 p.m., and Dubose pounded the pavement, coming in 39th place with a time of 29:42. Dubose was again a standout amongst a heavy amount of competition and Jzsanette Lindstrom crossed the line as the next UC Riverside runner. She finished 81st with a blazing time of 21:24. The next Riverside Highlander to finish was Alisha Brown with a time of 21:43. Raquel Hefflin finished close behind with a time of 21:50. These girls are the usual suspects of UC Riverside’s women who lead the pack as consistent finishers. Riverside’s women failed to make the top ten, however, finishing in 17th place out of 28 teams.
The PAC 12 conference teams were superior in this race, however, as they took the top four finishes, with Oregon, Stanford, Arizona and Washington finishing in the top spots. Oregon finished on top with 64 points, 421 fewer points than UC Riverside. Oregon’s top runner also happened to finish as the top runner overall as Jordan Hasay finished with a time of 19:16.
UC Riverside’s men took home a 22nd-place finish as their usual top-place runner, Seth Totten, led their injured squad with a time of 30:23, and a 28th-place finish. The men ran their 10K race after the women’s 6K. Totten’s time was good for third out of his fellow Big West Conference competitors, and Cesar Solis served as the next UC Riverside competitor to cross the line, with a time of 31:50 and then Michael Gauger trotted in with a time of 32:26. Solis and Gauger finished 112th and 127th, respectively.
Stanford won the race, coming in with a score of of 45 points. Then came Portland and UCLA. Despite finishing on top as the standout team, Stanford did not have the top finisher, however. It was Arizona’s Lawi Lalang who won the individual crown with a time of 29:02.
