IRVINE, Calif. – The UC San Diego men's and women's cross country teams took part in the Asics/UC Irvine Invitational Saturday at the Anteater Recreation Center Field. The Triton men finished sixth out of 21 teams in the 8k invitational, while the women took eighth in the 13-team field in the 5k invite competition.  

Senior Mike Wright uncorked a big run to pace UCSD on the men's side, finishing 32nd overall with a final time of 26:09.0. After finishing second overall in the team's season opener two weeks ago, freshman Brian Knight turned in another solid outing for the Tritons, placing 45th with a time of 26:22.20.

Underclassmen Jeremy Riley, Matt Lenehan, and John Svet rounded out the scoring for UCSD on the day, claiming 66th, 75th, and 85th place, respectively. Riley clocked in at 26:53.10, while Lenehan completed the course in 27:04.50, 13 seconds in front of Svet.

UCSD finished with a total of 229 points, 70 points behind fifth place Cal State San Marcos. Reigning CCAA champion Chico State placed four runners in the top 10 to win the invitational with 36 points, while Cal Poly San Luis Obispo finished second with a score of 65 and Fresno State took third with 110.

Sophomore Bre Schofield paced UCSD for the ninth consecutive race, finishing fifth overall in the women's 5k invitational with a time of 17:45.0. The Carlsbad, Calif. native finished less than four seconds behind fourth place runner Cady Villarreal of San Marcos and 23 seconds off the Cougars' Dallon Williams' pace, who broke the tape at 17:21.70.

Sophomore Elena Inouye was the next fastest Triton to finish, placing 41st overall with a time of 18:54.30. Aaryn Kobayashi, Catherine Crisp, and Brianna Alban rounded out the scoring for UCSD, posting times of 19:00.10, 19:08.20, and 19:21.30. Kobayashi's time was good enough for 46th place individually, while Crisp was the 55th fastest runner on the day, finishing 15 spots in front of Alban.

The Tritons finished with 199 points, five behind Concordia University. The female harriers from Cal Poly SLO claimed the top spot as a team with 74 points, while Chico State finished second on the women's side with 84 points and Cal State San Marcos took third with 121.  

The Tritons are back in action on Saturday, September 26 when they travel to Evansville, Ind. for the Southern Indiana Pre-National Invitational, beginning at 9:00 a.m. local time. The meet will serve as a preview for the 2009 NCAA Division II National Championships, which will also be held on the SIU campus on November 21.