RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Triton women's cross country emerged from a field of 25 teams to win the Highlander Invitational on Saturday. Redshirt senior Sylvana Northrop ran 20:01.4 to win the women's 6k for the second consecutive season.
 
The Triton men finished fifth, good for the best result among the four Big West teams at the meet. Redshirt senior Nathan Garderes was the top Triton, placing 11th. His 23:54.3 is the fastest-ever time by a Triton male at UC Riverside's Agricultural Operations Course.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
In the women's race, the Tritons led from the jump as they established themselves in the leading group and did not look back. Northrop broke away from the leaders around the 3k mark, running the rest of the way solo and finishing with a 30 second advantage over second place.
 
Three other Tritons also finished in the top 10 as Christel Elkins (fourth), Dasha LeFaivre (sixth) and Emma Dunmire (ninth) came across the line within 15 seconds of each other. Allyson Abandonato finished 18th as the Tritons' final point scorer. All five Tritons from Northrop to Abandonato ran the race in under 21 minutes.
 
In the men's race, Arizona ran away with first place while the rest of the teams fought for second. The Tritons had a strong start to the race, ultimately taking fifth in a tight contest. Their 192 points were enough to beat fellow Big West sides CSUN (230 points) and Cal State Fullerton (231 points).
 
Garderes stayed with the leaders throughout the race en route to an 11th-place finish. Evan Hild was next for the Tritons in 28th, followed by Joseph Vargas in 56th. The final two points scorers were Tate Meaux (66th) and Shane Badcock (71st).
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• The Triton women beat five other Big West teams in the race.
• Northrop ran 26 seconds faster than her win last season.
• Half of the Tritons previously competed on the same course back on Sept. 27 at the UC Riverside Invitational. (Recap)

QUOTABLE
"We had a good day on the course today," head coach Nate Garcia '00 said. "The staff at UC Riverside put together a great meet and both of our teams took advantage of the opportunity.
 
We had some excellent individual performances on the guys' side with big improvements from the same meet a year ago. Nathan Garderes led the way and is rounding into great shape just in time for the championship races. Joseph Vargas made a big step forward. We have been seeing him put the work in at practice and it was really rewarding to see it pay off for him in the race. As a team we didn't have the result that we wanted but the pieces are definitely there for success in a couple weeks at the Big West Championships.
 
The women came into the meet as the favorite to win and worked hard to make that come to fruition. From the start they handled a fast pace well, aggressively putting themselves into the leading group. Sylvana Northrop improved her time from her win at this meet last year, a great sign of her continued improvement. Behind her Christel Elkins and Dasha LeFaivre worked really well together throughout the race, giving us three in the top six. The women ran away with the team title and have great momentum heading into the championship races."
 
UP NEXT
With the regular season now complete, the Tritons set their sights on The Big West Championships. This year's meet will be Oct. 31 in Honolulu, Hawai'i.
 
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 has begun a new era as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 24-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 39 have garnered 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 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in NCAA Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.