Men's Cross Country Finishes Ninth at UC Riverside Invitational

Men's Cross Country Finishes Ninth at UC Riverside Invitational

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Freshman Miles Christensen had a top 30 finish (29th) in a 172-runner field filled with Division I competitors as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's cross country team finished 10th overall out of 21 teams at the UC Riverside Invitational on Saturday morning.

Christensen's time of 25:02.0 put him in 14th place all-time in CMS cross country history at the 8K event. He led a young group of Stags to the best average time for the top seven in the last four years. 

Also earning high finishes for the Stags were freshman Kyril Van Schendel, who came in 54th place with a 25:27.9. Senior Ben Iten was close behind in 59th place with a 25:31.2, while sophomore Stevie Steinberg was in 68th place with a time of 25:34.5. Junior Wilson Ives rounded out the top five with a 25:47.2, placing him 77th. 

Christensen was also 24th among collegiate competitors, as five of the runners who placed ahead of him were either unattached or running for club teams. Kevin Lynch of Utah Valley won in 23:58.2, while Southern Utah had the next four collegiate finishers on their way to running away with the team title. 

Utah Valley came in second, Pomona-Pitzer in third and Central Arizona in fourth. Cal Baptist, Sacramento State, UC Riverside and Mt. Sac were in the 5-8 spots, with CMS finishing ninth, just ahead of local Division I squads Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount and UC Irvine in the 10-12 spots. 

The Stags will next be in action next Saturday when they travel to Cal State San Bernardino for the Coyote Invitational.