ONTARIO, Calif. - The University of California San Diego women's cross country team opened its 2016 campaign with a team win, with all five scorers in the top 10, at the CPP California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Preview, Friday at Cucamonga Guasti Regional Park, the site of the CCAA Championships. The Triton men took second as a team behind host Cal Poly Pomona.

Leading the way for the UCSD women was sophomore Karina Carstens, the reigning conference Freshman of the Year, who completed the four-kilometer course in 14:32.3 for third place. Senior Ella Verhees (San Diego/Point Loma HS) finished seven seconds behind Carstens at 14:39.3 in fourth. Junior Kristin Semancsin (San Diego/Valhalla HS) was third on the team, sixth overall with a time of 14:49.8. Junior Skylar Thiel came in right behind Semancsin at 14:58.7 for seventh. Junior Merin Arft rounded out the scorers, crossing the line in 15:15.2 for 10th place.

The Tritons scored 30 points for the team victory. Cal State San Marcos and Cal Poly Pomona finished second and third behind UCSD with 39 and 63 points, respectively.

The Triton men were led by the duo of senior Brendan Gee (Rancho Bernardo/Rancho Bernardo HS) and redshirt senior Tareq Alwafai, who finished the six-kilometer race next to each other in eighth (19:00.05) and ninth (19:01.3) overall, respectively. Sophomore Samuel Blake was not far behind, taking 11th at 19:11.0. Senior Terrence Luevano and redshirt senior Scott Acton were the fourth and fifth UCSD finishers, coming in 18th (19:24.2) and 20th (19:28.0) place, respectively.

No. 9 Cal Poly Pomona won the men's side of the meet with 23 points. The Tritons finished in second with 63, narrowly holding off third place Cal State San Marcos by a single point.

UCSD will have two weeks off before traveling to the UC Riverside Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 17.

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