Sep 16, 2017
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The University of La Verne cross country teams headed east to compete in the UC Riverside Invitational Saturday morning.
The Leopards, who competed without their full squad, were led on the men's side by Marcelo Arcos who finished the 8k with a time of 28:12.2, and led in the women's race by Melissa Cerrillos who finished the 5k at 19:09.3.
"Competing in a race with over 200 runners was a new experience for some of the younger runners, and it showed at times. These early meets are about getting experience for the late-season championship races," said Head Coach Bryan George. "We're looking forward to having a week off to refocus before the SCIAC Multi-Dual later this month."
The men's team had to deal with some adversity early on in the race after some Leopard runners got tangled up shortly after the gun went off. The setback made it difficult for the Leopards to recover. Samuel Johnny finished at 28:33.4. He was followed by Chris Arcos (28:37.0) and Joel Reyes (28:40.4).
Eric Lopez-Elwell (30.20.8) and Luis Mendez (31:29.2) rounded out the scoring for La Verne.
Janice Deguerio was the second Leopard on the women's team to cross the finish line, finishing with a time of 22:01.0. Michelle Suarez followed close behind at 22:24.8. Ashley Garnica finished next with a time of 22:55.0.
Daisy Perez (23:05.0), Jesja Pham (23:26.2), and Reiko Fujimoto (23:37.0) were the final finishers for La Verne.
Next Race: The Leopards open up SCIAC competition on Friday, September 29 at 4:45 p.m. at the SCIAC Multi-Duals in La Mirada.