Women's Cross Country Earns Top 10 Finish at UC Riverside Invitational

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's cross country team had an impressive showing at the UC Riverside Invitational on Saturday morning, finishing in the top 10 in a field that included many Division I programs.

Southern Utah finished in first place, followed by Cal Baptist in second, Utah Valley in third, and Sacramento State and Azusa Pacific in fourth and fifth. The Athenas then found themselves in the middle of a string of Division I schools, with UC Irvine placing sixth, San Diego State seventh, Long Beach State eighth, CMS ninth and Loyola Marymount tenth. 

Individually, senior Natalie Marsh was the highest finisher for CMS, coming in 39th overall in 21:40.7 over the 6K race, with fellow senior Malea Martin in 46th at 21:49.9. Sophomore Abigale Johnson was third on the Athenas and 61st overall in 22:10.8, while freshman Emily Clarke scored by coming in fourth on the team with a 22:15.4.  Sophomore Dulcie Jones rounded out the top five for CMS with a 22:19.9, placing her 73rd overall. 

Also finishing in the top 100 of a deep race were senior Morgan Blevins (86th, 22:32.1), sophomore Georgia Scherer (92nd, 22:38.5) and senior Matilda Msall (99th, 22:50.5). 

The CMS cross country team will be back in action next Saturday when it travels to Cal State San Bernardino for the Coyote Invitational at 7:30 a.m.