The Matadors men and women’s cross country teams competed in the 25th annual UC Riverside Cross Country Invitational Oct. 1-2, sending 13 Matador runners to three different races.

The Matador men’s team finished eighth as a team in the 8k run with an average time of 27:39.02 and a total time of 2:18:15.11.

The winner of the men’s event, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, finished with an average time of 25:11.70 and a total time of 2:05:58.50.

The Matador women’s team finished tenth as a team in the 5k run, with an average time of 19:36.10 and a total time of 1:38:00.50.

The women’s event winner, CSU Fullerton, finished with an average time of 18:36.86 and a total time of 1:33:04.30.

Matador senior Liz Camy finished fourth, with a time of 17:51:70 in the women’s 5k run. Camy crossed the tape 28:20 behind the winner, Natalie Perkins of Concordia University.

Other Matador women finishers were Julia Flores, who finished 54th, Marianne Gerry, who finished 57th, Ashley Cambaliza, who finished 63rd, Pam Tellez who finished 80th, and Zenaida Morales at 92nd place.

For the men’s team, Manuel Ruiz had the best time (25:11.30), finishing the 8k run in eighth, as Jesson Baumgartner of Southern Utah took the tape with a time of 24:29.00.

Other Matador men in the 8k run were Christian Haase, who came in 42nd, Damian Mendoza, who came in 43rd, Daniel Clements, who came in 62nd, Jonathan Tan, who came in 64th, and Ross Spaulding, who came in 66th.

Over 400 runners from 32 schools and club teams participated in four races at the Agricultural Operations Course in Riverside.

The course affords competitors the opportunity to run through the shade of orange groves and eucalyptus trees, some nearly a century old.

The course is adjacent to the UCR campus on the 420-acre Citrus Research and Agricultural Experiment.

The course, which was developed for the 1979 NCAA Division II National Championship, features a long loop that winds through groves of citrus trees and crosses over irrigation canals.

It has a wide running surface, allowing for a large field of runners and outstanding racing.

the course has hosted the annual premier Riverside Invitational as well as numerous conference and regional championships in the past.

It is scheduled to be the host site for the 2005 Big West Championships.

Malik Lee can be reached at malik.lee@csun.edu.