Results

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. - Behind a pair of top-20 individual performances, the UC Irvine women's cross country team recorded a season-best third-place finish Saturday at The Master's University XC Invitational.
 
The Anteaters were third out of 31 teams with 136 points, placing just ahead of UCLA (154).
 
"The women's group is starting to race at the level they are training at," said UCI distance coach Casey Kear. "We need to focus on consistency. Our finishing order has changed every race, so if we can all click on the same day then we can be a tough team."
 
Sophomore Hannah Chau continued to lead the way, coming in third out of 305 overall runners. She completed the 5000-meter course at Central Park in a personal-record 17:53.8. Chau shaved 12 seconds off her previous best, which she set in the season opener on Aug. 31.
 
"The goal for the team today was to run as a pack, close our gap from runners 2-7 and focus on the second half of the race," Kear added. "We had Hannah run with that group for the first 1.5 miles then let her really race the second half and she still had a personal record. Liz, Claire and Patty all had huge 5K PRs as well."
 
Freshman Elizabeth Celada Padilla notched her first top-20 finish with a lifetime-best 18:35.5. Celada Padilla saw nearly a one-minute improvement in her second collegiate 5K race.
 
Senior Mariah Theologidy was next to cross the finish line for the 'Eaters, placing 34th at 18:49.4. Classmates Anastasia Karnaze (18:57.4) and Brenda Dorantes (18:59.4) rounded out the team's top-five scorers in 40th and 43rd, respectively.
 
Freshman Claire Livengood was right on their heels in 44th with a personal-best 19:00.2.
 
Sophomore Patricia Sanchez added a PR of 19:22.7 (75th).
 
UC Irvine will now have a few weeks off to prepare for the Highlander Invitational (Oct. 19), which is the team's final tune-up before the Big West Championships (Nov. 2). Both meets will take place at the UCR Ag/Ops Course in Riverside.