RIVERSIDE, Calif. (Sept. 16, 2023) — UC Santa Barbara Cross Country attended the UC Riverside Invitational, where they competed with over a dozen other teams from across the west. Both the men and women had a noteworthy day, as runners on both teams exhibited exceptional personal performances.

Assistant Coach Jason Zarb-Cousin thought the day reflected a promising season for the Gauchos. 

"Today was very encouraging, especially given it is an early season meet," Zarb-Cousin said.  

Claire Selleck was the only Gaucho to participate in the Women's 6k, where she came in 39th out of 172 runners. She kept a consistent pace throughout the course and crossed the finish line with a time of 21:29.6. The other members of the women's team competed in the 5k, placing 12th out of 21 teams, with each racer ending in the top half of 237 total runners. Leah Mendibles was the first Gaucho to finish, placing 31st overall with a time of 18:49.6. Lexi Darley was the second woman to complete the race with a time of 19:03.4. 

Alexa Bryson, Nikki Dorostkar and Keira Potter rounded out the final three scoring positions. Bryson had an especially impressive meet, as she ran a career-best today of 19:17.9 and beat her previous time by 36 seconds. 

"I thought the women ran a very smart race and competed well," Zarb-Cousin said. "I was impressed with Leah and Alexa's races as they moved up well and it translated to some very solid times." 

The men's team ran the 8k against 21 other teams and finished 15th. Gus Marshall was the first Gaucho to the end, placing 59th out of 215 runners with a time of 24:38.9. Aakersh Mather was the next to arrive and finished 76th with a time of 24:50.9. 

"The men had very solid performances across the board, especially from Gus and Aakersh, who improved significantly from our first meet a couple weeks ago," Zarb-Cousin said. 

The remaining scorers for the UC Santa Barbara Men's team were Jake Ratkovich, KC Barber and Noah de la Rionda, who came in 7 seconds behind Barber. The UC Riverside Invitational was also a premiere 8k for several of this season's newcomers. 

"We had four debut runners in the 8k and I thought they adjusted well to the longer distance," Zarb-Cousin said. "I was most impressed with Jake who nearly broke 25 minutes his first time out."

The Gauchos have a week to prepare for the next meet, which will be held by the University of Oregon. Both teams will head to Springfield, Ore. for the Dellinger Invite on Sept. 22. 

Results for The UC Riverside Invitational can be found here for the women and here for the men.