Men’s and women’s cross country opened their 2014 campaign Saturday at the 34th Annual UC Riverside Invitational, which featured 29 Division I and II squads.
The women’s team had one top-10 finisher, senior transfer Staci Foster, who came in ninth with a time of 21:26.2. The women finished third among Division II schools (11th overall) behind UC San Diego and PacWest rival California Baptist.
The women’s remaining best five finishers included freshman Eileen Stressling (38th place, 22:09.6), sophomore Kylie Betts (57th, 22:31.8), senior Elle Farrar (93th, 22:57.2) and senior Elizabeth Lyons (103, 23:05.5).
The men were led by Peter Buscheck, finishing 73rd with a time of 25:48.7, a 1:25.4 margin from the top 10. The team finished 17th overall, fifth in its respective division.
The men’s remaining best five finishers included freshman Jeremy Porter (93, 26:05.2), freshman Alek Simpson (95th, 26:05.2), sophomore Kyle Buekert (133th, 26:36.5) and freshman Cody Drisko (134th, 26:37.0).
The Cougars will travel to Palo Alto, California, Sept. 27 for the Stanford Invitational.