CHINO- The University of La Verne women's cross country team placed ninth at SCIAC Championships at Prado Park Saturday.

Junior Andrea Ramirez completed the 6,000-meter course in 25 minutes, 46.02 seconds and led the Leopards with a 47th-place finish. Seniors Shelby Sato and Yanet Urciaga were 56th (26:39.27) and 60th (26:48.44) respectively, while freshman Jacquie Scherrer was 67th (27:09.48) and freshman Kamalei Lee was 72nd (27:32.29). Freshmen Andrea Valdez and Summer O'Brien were 81st (28:13.71) and 107th (30:50.77) respectively to round out the varsity squad.

The Leos accumulated 224 points on the day. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps won the team title with 31 points. Melissa Skiba of Cal Lutheran University was the individual champion with a finishing time of 23:02.8 in the 118-runner field.

Next up for La Verne is the NCAA West Region Championships Nov. 16 in Claremont. The top-two teams automatically qualify for the NCAA national championships in Hanover, Ind. Nov. 23. At-large bids are determined the following day.  The top-seven individuals not on a qualifying team will also make the trip to Hanover.