RIVERSIDE, Calif. – On Saturday morning, the Tritons traveled to UC Riverside for the Riverside Invitational to compete with 35 teams in four different races. The women's side took first place in the Open 5K and finished 13th overall with 316 points. The men's side finished 11th in Men's Open 8K and took ninth overall with 267 points.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
In the Women's Open 5K, nine Tritons contributed to taking the first-place finish. Freshman Allyson Abandonato led the pack taking 16th with a time of 18:37.3 with her classmate, Jenna Satovsky 0.6 seconds behind her finishing at 17th with a time of 18:37.6. Isabelle Shepherd came in 22nd place posting an 18:40.4 time. Next came Ashley Faller with a time of 18:43.1 in 25th place. Chelsey Romo posted an 18:54.5 time with Lauren Delgado adding her 18:59.0 time to the mix. Tess Rounds, Sarah Paino, and Leila Keyvan finished within seconds of each other, boosting the Tritons into first place.
 
The freshmen led nine finished with a total of 81 points and the next closest team was UC Irvine at 104 points.
 
In the Women's 6K Invitational, junior Caitlin Billman led the way for the Tritons finishing 40th with a time of 21:14.3. Sophomore Sylvana Northrop added her 21:30.9 time and Emma Dunmire and Azalea Segura-Mora finished within milliseconds of each other to help the Tritons to a 13th place finish.

On the men's side, five Tritons contributed to the 11th place finish in the Open 8K. Andrew Schulz took eighth overall with a blazing 25:01.8 time. Marcos Milla finished in 35th posting a 25:52.1 with Nathan Garderes following in 39th place posting a 26:01.3 time. Colin Beale and Thomas Fry added their times to boost the Tritons' finish.
 
In the Men's 8K Invitational, the Tritons finished ninth overall. Freshman, Michael Julian led the pack with a 24:27.5 time to take the 38th finishing time. Jordan Haney, Nicco Pompili, and Brett Beattie finished 47th, 50th, and 66th respectively.
 
QUOTABLE
"It was a great day out on the course for the Tritons. Across all four races our team raced well, showing very good growth and progression from our last time out," remarked head coach Nate Garcia.
 
With several top performers, he added, "Caitlin Billman showed tremendous poise and experience to put together a great race that is the second fastest by a Triton ever on this course. And our women's open team did a great job working together and pushing each other. They got out in great position and did an awesome job fighting through the finish to secure the team win led by a pair of freshmen, Ally Abandonato and Jenna Satovsky."
 
On the men's side, Andrew Schulz and Michael Julian lifted the Tritons, commented Garcia, "Michael got out aggressively and showed excellent toughness late to run the second fastest time ever by a Triton on this course, and Andrew made a big leap forward in his season today by securing a top 10 finish in the Open race."
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• The Triton women's first place finish in the Open 5K is the first victory of the season.
• UC San Diego competed with 35 other DI institutions including but not limited to Arizona, Biola, Cal, Arizona State, and Grand Canyon.
• Three freshmen led the Tritons in two different races today: Allyson Abandonato, Jenna Satovsky, and Michael Julian.
• Andrew Schulz's eighth place finish was his first top 10 finish this season for the Tritons.
• Caitlin Billman and Michael Julian both ran the second fastest course records for the Tritons.

UP NEXT
The Tritons are back on the trail on September 30 for the Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, PA hosted by Lehigh University.
 
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.