The LMU men's and women's cross country teams competed at the UC Riverside Invitational Saturday morning. For the second race in a row the Lions ran a partial squad holding out some of the top runners.  In spite of this, LMU was able to place 11th (men) and 10th (women) out of 21 teams. 
 
Leading the way for the men was freshman Zach Arias who finished 49th out of 172 runners in the race and ran the 8-kilometer distance in 25:20. Arias' time ranks him as the 4th fastest LMU freshman debut performance in LMU history behind some good company to include All-American and 5K school record holder Weston Strum (25:04), NCAA-qualifier and the second fastest 10K runner in LMU history Kevin Joerger (25:06), and the LMU 3K school record holder Drew Dalton (25:17). 
 
Four spots behind Arias in 53rd place was sophomore Joseph Garcia crossing the finish line in 25:27.7. His time was 1:52 faster than what he ran last year on the same course. Freshman Ethan Frisone was next in for the Lions in 69th place with a time on 25:37.5. This was Frisone's second 8K of his young career improving by 40 seconds from his time at the Mark Covert Classic just two weeks ago. Sophomores Kyle Friedler and Simeon Paul rounded out the scoring five for the Lions. Friedler finished with a time of 26:02.1 and was just 3 seconds shy of a career best for the 8K distance. 
 
On the women's side, the Lions were led by junior Hannah Wohlenberg in 35th place who covered the 6-kilometer distance in 21:36.1. Wohlenberg's time was less than two seconds from her career best (21:34.7). 
 
Following Wohlenberg were two freshmen, Grace Catena and Perri Bockrath who made their collegiate debuts on Saturday. They finished in succession in 48th and 49th places with times of 21:54.7 and 21:55.6 respectively. Their times are also the eighth and ninth fastest freshmen cross country debut times in LMU history. Six of those seven ahead of Catena and Bockrath qualified for NCAAs in some capacity either in cross country, track & field, or both. 

Rounding out the scoring five for the Lions were junior Kyla Danforth and freshman Raina Hines. Danforth crossed the line in 22:13.6 in 65th place. Hines, who also made her collegiate debut, crossed in a time of 23:10.2. 

Several Lions ran unattached on Saturday to include senior Koby Pederson who ran 24:44.8, good enough for 16th place overall. In addition, senior Branden Estrada finished in 30th with a time of 25:02.3. Estrada's time was the second fastest in his career. 

Senior Maddi Vorgitch, who qualified for the NCAA Preliminary Round in the 10K just four months ago, ran 20:55.9 good enough for 13th place in the race. Vorgitch's time was her third fastest of her career. 
 
The Lions will next toe the line on September 29 at the Capital Cross Challenge in Sacramento, Calif. This will be a course preview for the NCAA West Regional on November 9.