BIG BEAR, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Men's and Women's Cross Country teams competed in their first meet of the season, taking on UCLA and fellow Big West institution UC Riverside in a tri-meet on a 3.4-mile course.
 
On the women's side, Lindsey Reed had a stellar performance as she came in second place with a time of 21:44.9 in her first meet for the Gauchos. The next two Gauchos that made it across the finish line were Ryann Strawn and Lexi Darley, who finished within three seconds of each other with times of 23:23.4 and 23:26.2, respectively.
 
For the men, sophomore KC Barber had the strongest performance as he ran across the finish line with a time of 18:30.9, which was good enough for sixth place. The underclassmen continued to shine for the men as freshman Kellen Kirby was the next Gaucho to finish with a time of 18:43.7 followed by sophomore Jake Ratkovich with a time of 18:45.0. These times were good enough to finish in eighth and ninth, respectively.
 
The Gauchos will have the next few weeks to prepare for their next meet, which will be on Sept. 21 at the Riverside Invitational hosted by UC Riverside. The women will race at 7:15 a.m. while the men will hit the Ags Op Course at 7:50 a.m.
 
WOMEN'S RESULTS
2 – Lindsey Reed (21:44.9)
14 – Ryann Strawn (23:23.4)
15 – Lexi Darley (23:26.2)
16 – Yasmin Ghaneh (23:59.7)
18 – Alexa Bryson (24:44.0)
19 – Keira Sorenson (25:00.6)
20 – Ashley Purcell (26:00.3)
 
MEN'S RESULTS
6 – KC Barber (18:30.9)
8 – Kellen Kirby (18:43.7)
9 – Jake Ratkovich (18:45.0)
11 – Van Filek (19:01.2)
16 – Noah de la Rionda (19:15.7)
17 – Zaki Blunt (19:16.2