Saturday, October 14
Riverside, CA
8:00 AM
UC Riverside

vs

Highlander Invitational

Men's Cross Country Takes 4th At 2017 Highlander Invitational, Demeku-Ousman Finishes In 5th
10/14/2017 9:57:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Riverside, CA—As hosts of the 6th Annual Highlander Invitational, the UC Riverside Men's Cross Country Team placed fourth overall with a team score of 131. Redshirt junior Solomon Demeku-Ousman led the way with a 6k time of 18:00.8, good for fifth-place out of 122 runners.
Full results for the meet can be found here. A photo gallery for the event can be found here.
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MEET NOTES
Demeku-Ousman's time of 18:00.8 set a new personal-best for this event. His fastest previous time of 18:05 was set last year at the 2016 Highlander Invitational (recap). It was his first top-5 finish of the season and the third of his career.
Sophomore Brandon Shields earned his third career top-20 finish with a time of 18:25.8. That mark was 26 seconds faster than his previous-best, set at the 2016 Highlander Invitational. Shields was the second Highlander to cross the finish line, beating his highest previous team finish, which had been fourth.
In just his second career race, freshman Jonathan Lee rounded out the Highlanders' top-30 finishers. He set new personal-bests by placing 29th overall and third on his team.
The Highlanders had a season-high 12 runners participating in this meet. Freshmen Isaac Acosta, Jose Cruz, and Blake Starbuck, and sophomore Jason Spatter all participated for the first time this season.
This was the second of three home meets for UC Riverside this season. The Highlanders will be back to host the Big West Championship on Saturday, October 28.
UCR Women's 5k Recap
Full results for the meet can be found here. A photo gallery for the event can be found here.
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| 2017 Highlander Invitational | ||
| Place (Score) | Student-Athlete | Time |
| 5 (5) | Solomon Demeku-Ousman | 18:00.8 |
| 20 (20) | Brandon Shields | 18:25.8 |
| 29 (29) | Jonathan Lee | 18:32.2 |
| 38 (37) | Jack Frimodig | 18:43.7 |
| 43 (40) | Isaac Acosta | 18:49.5 |
| 45 (41) | Heinrich Van Neikerk | 18:50.9 |
| 47 (43) | Justin Eipp | 18:52.0 |
| 48 | Andres Delgado | 18:53.1 |
| 53 | James Sever | 18:59.7 |
| 79 | Jose Cruz | 19:28.8 |
| 85 | Jason Spatter | 19:36.8 |
| 87 | Blake Starbuck | 19:43.7 |
MEET NOTES
Demeku-Ousman's time of 18:00.8 set a new personal-best for this event. His fastest previous time of 18:05 was set last year at the 2016 Highlander Invitational (recap). It was his first top-5 finish of the season and the third of his career.
Sophomore Brandon Shields earned his third career top-20 finish with a time of 18:25.8. That mark was 26 seconds faster than his previous-best, set at the 2016 Highlander Invitational. Shields was the second Highlander to cross the finish line, beating his highest previous team finish, which had been fourth.
In just his second career race, freshman Jonathan Lee rounded out the Highlanders' top-30 finishers. He set new personal-bests by placing 29th overall and third on his team.
The Highlanders had a season-high 12 runners participating in this meet. Freshmen Isaac Acosta, Jose Cruz, and Blake Starbuck, and sophomore Jason Spatter all participated for the first time this season.
This was the second of three home meets for UC Riverside this season. The Highlanders will be back to host the Big West Championship on Saturday, October 28.
UCR Women's 5k Recap
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