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Moreno Paces Gauchos to 3rd-Place Finish at Big West Championship Meet
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Sophomore Dani Moreno ran a 20:25.4 over the 6k Ag/Ops Course on the UC Riverside campus to help UC Santa Barbara to a third-place team finish at the 2012 Big West Women's Cross Country Championship on Saturday.
Moreno, the Gauchos' top runner all year, finished less than a second behind Katie Fry of UC Davis who was fifth. The race was won by Cal Poly's Laura Hollander in a blazing time of 19:12.6, more than 30 seconds faster than the runner-up, Sarah Sumpter of UC Davis.
As a team, UCSB finished with 75 points. First-place Cal Poly edged Davis, 43-46.
Senior Cassie Brooker and sophomore Christine Cooperstein finished 13-14 in the race. Brooker clocked a 20:57.7, just over three seconds better than her teammate's 21:00.8. Another senior, Ari Selix, gave the Gauchos four runners in the top-20 as she ran a 21:12.2 to finish in 20th.
UCSB had a pair of freshmen running in the championship meet. Sarah Shreck finished 22nd with a time of 21:14.2 while Maxine Goyette was 52nd at 22:26.8. Three others finished between Shreck and Goyette. Senior Courtney Lightfoot (21:27.3), sophomore Bailey Miller (21:51.6) and junior Jessica Chadwick (21:59.4) were 30th, 36th and 41st respectively.
The Gauchos will be off until the NCAA West Regional which will be held in Seattle on Nov. 9.
