RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Sacramento State freshman Taylor Wellersdick continued the strong start to her collegiate career as she placed eighth overall at the UCR Invitational on Saturday morning on the Ag Course.
 
Wellersdick completed the 6K course in 20:35.8 and was just 24.8 seconds off the winning time in the race. Her effort helped the Hornet women place eighth in the team standings and rank third among the six Big West schools in the field.
 
Kate Sanders and Marina Lipary ranked second and third, respectively, on the team and finished in the top 50. Sanders placed 40^th in 21:05.1 while Lipary was 48^th in 21:09.5. The team also counted times from Sara Thompson (57^th, 21:18.6) and Dakota Gibson (21:27.7).
 
Ryan Martin led the Hornet men for the 12^th consecutive meet. Martin finished the 8K race in 24:00.1 to place 15^th overall and seventh among NCAA Div. I student-athletes. Freshman Lucas Ruark was second on the team, and 41^st overall, in 24:30.7 while Brandon Moreno ran 25:00.9 to place 92^nd.  The final two times towards the team total came from Matthew Bertrand (143^rd, 25:30.0) and Thomas Rasner (163^rd, 25:41.4).
 
UC Irvine claimed the women's team title with 65 points with Cal State Fullerton a distant second with 152. Southern Utah won the men's team title with 49 points while the Hornets took 16^th with 395.
 
The Hornets will next compete at the Pacific Invitational in Lodi, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 2.
 
UCR Invitational
Women's Results (5K)
1. UC Irvine 65; 2. Cal State Fullerton 152; 3. Biola 161; 4. Southern Utah 198; 5. Hawaii 198; 6. CBU 215; 7. Cal Poly Pomona 215; 8. Sacramento State 223; 9. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 229; 10. GCU 324; 11. UC Riverside 339; 12. Concordia 362; 13. Fresno State 363; 14. UC Davis 375; 15. Utah Tech 397; 16. Pepperdine 409; 17. Cal State Monterey Bay 439; 18. UC Santa Cruz 468; 19. Vanguard 537; 20. Cal State San Marco 572; 21. Long Beach State 590; 22. UC Merced 597; 23. Pomona-Pitzer 633; 24. The Master's 642; 25. Pacific 698; 26. CSUN 703; 27. Point Loma 706; 28. San Diego 744; 29. UNLV 803; 30. Azusa Pacific 834.
 
Individual Top Five
1. Emma Hadley, UCI 20:09.0
2. Fatima Mena, Unatt., 20:14.7
3. Elena Stanciu, UCSC, 20:25.3
4. Grace Baxter, UCI 20:27.7
5. Lilit Arakelyan, CSUN, 20:29.7
 
Sacramento State Finishers
8. Taylor Wellersdick 20:35.8
40. Kate Sanders 21:05.1
48. Marina Lipary 21:09.5
57. Sara Thompson 21:18.6
83. Dakota Gibson 21:27.7
104. Keira Quigley 21:39.8
109. Meg Moyer 21:43.0
192. Dominique Abbott 22:28.7
217. Scarlett Riddle 22:48.0
 
Men's Team Results
1. Southern Utah 49; 2. Pepperdine 97; 3. Cal Poly Pomona 103; 4. Pomona-Pitzer 159; 5. Utah Tech 178; 6. Cal State San Marcos 235; 7. GCU 274; 8. Claremont-Mud-Scripps 251; 9. Snow JC 298; 10. UC Riverside 313; 11. UC Irvine 315; 12. Cal State Fullerton 320; 13. The Master's 350; 14. Biola 366; 15. CSUN 389; 16. Sacramento State 395; 17. UC Davis 440; 18. Riverside JC 483; 19. Fresno Pacific 492; 20. Pacific 497; 21. Long Beach State 539; 22. UC Santa Cruz 568; 23. CBU 579; 24. Westmont 597; 25. San Diego 710.
 
Individual Top Five
1. Ernesto Ruiz, Unatt., 23:17.0
2. Ricardo Varga, CPP, 23:26.4
3. Victor Rosas, Unatt., 23:33.1
4. Itumeleng Ngzabazi, Unatt., 23:35.9
5. Noah Plaza, Unatt., 23:36.8
 
Sacramento State Finishers
15. Ryan Martin 24:00.1
41. Lucas Ruark 24:30.7
92. Brandon Moreno 25:00.9
143. Matthew Bertrand 25:30.0
163. Thomas Rasner 25:41.5
168. Justin Catanach 25:46.0
203. Noah Mikusevich 26:29.7