CEDAR CITY, Utah - Sept. 17 - Southern Utah's own Cameron
Levins led the pack at the UC Riverside invitational, leading the team to victory
with a first-place finish. The men's team took home the title with a score of
51, followed by UC Riverside (93) in second place. The women placed third with
a score of 87, following close behind Loyola Marymount (65) and UC Santa
Barbara (69) in first and second place respectively.
"It really looks to be a good year for us," head coach Eric
Houle said. "With the outrageous times we recorded today, it's obvious that
both these teams are among the fastest we've ever had at SUU."
Cameron Levins led the team with a time of 22:58.7,
finishing almost 57 seconds before the second-place runner. Levins' time also
improves the previous Southern Utah top UCR course record of 23:48.6, set by himself
in 2009, by about a minute.
Clinton Rhoton finished next for the T-Birds, crossing the finish
line in 10th place with a time of 24:19.5. He was followed immediately by Nate
Jewkes (24:20.4) in 11th place and Austin West (24.20.5) in 12th. Rhoton,
Jewkes and West have also earned places in SUU's course records, ranking third, fourth and
fifth respectively. Elijah Rono rounded out the scoring members of the men's
team with a 25th-place finish and time of 24:47.0, ranking eighth in the course
records.
"Going in as fast as we did on both the men's and women's sides,
I think we're going to be very effective at the conference, regional and even
national levels," Coach Houle continued.
The women were led in the 6k by Diana Medina in third place
with a time of 20:20.2. Jamie Smith followed close behind her in eighth place
at 20:58.0. Madalyn Jones came next, finishing 26th with a time of 21:28.5. She
was immediately followed by Armarose Bailey (21:29.2) and Ashley Gray (21:29.2)
in 27th and 28th place respectively. This meet marks the first 6k the women's
team has competed in at UC Riverside, which places all of the recorded times in
the Southern Utah course record books.
The T-Birds will now take a two-week break from competition
before traveling to Springfield Oregon for the Bill Dellinger Invitational on
Oct. 1.
