USC
Highlander Invitational
USC Takes Third At Highlander Invitational
October 17, 2015 | Women's Cross Country
The USC women's cross country squad had a strong team effort to place third at the Highlander Invitational held at the UCR Ag/Ops Course in Riverside, Calif. today (Oct. 17).
"We competed well in our final tune-up before the Pac-12 Championships," said USC cross country coach David Freeman. "For the most part we executed the plan and competed throughout the race. There are some tweaks we have to make before now and the Pac-12s, but I think we are going to have a pretty competitive team when we head to Pullman. I'm excited about that, I think the team is excited about that and I believe we are making strides. We are building up the program to where it needs to be, so I think we are heading in the right direction."
Leading the way for USC once again was senior Katerina Berdousi who placed 13th (12th in the scoring), but she wasn't the only one with a strong race, as the Trojans' top five finishers were all within the top 25 spots. Berdousi had a time of 18:12.05 and was followed closely by redshirt sophomore Rebekah Ent, who took 14th with a season-best time of 18:15.68.
Freshman Amber Gore posted a college-best time of 18:21.47 to finish 17th, redshirt freshman Madison Ricks had a PR of 18:33.70 to finish 23rd and senior Jenna Tong had a season-best time of 18:36.74 to place 25th.
Freshman Mikaela Smith ran down several runners in the final stretch to finish 35th with a PR of 18:50.92. Also, freshmen Taylor Seamans had a USC PR of 19:19.70 to place 58th, Rachel Glynn had a PR of 19:36.17 to finish 68th and Lauren Maurer had a time of 20:26.08 to finish 88th.
"Kat (Berdousi) was our number one runner, but right behind her was Rebekah (Ent) who was close to her personal best," added Freeman. "Mikaela Smith PR'd again by about 20 seconds. I believe Taylor also had a PR. The goal is to getting better and I think having a PR and running a personal best means we are heading in the right direction, doing something right. We will have a good game plan for the Pac-12s and hopefully everybody shows up on the same day and we are able to execute again."
UC Riverside won the meet for the second consecutive season, but it was a tight battle among the top five teams with the Highlanders scoring 70 points, San Diego State 81, USC 87, CSUF 91 and LBSU 111.
Players Mentioned
