Santa Clarita, Calif. -- Cal State Fullerton freshman Gilbert Solorza finished fifth overall to help the men's team to a second-place finish while the women finished fourth at the Mustang Challenge in Santa Clarita, Calif. on Saturday.
The UCLA men's and women's cross country teams swept the team races. The Mustang men finished with 20 points, while Fullerton (53 points) finished in second. UCLA's Sergey Sushchickh was the overall winner in the men's race with a time of 24:50.1. UCLA's Kelsey Smith (17:01.5) and Bronte Golick (17:37.2) finished first and second amongst collegiate women to help lead the Bruin women to the team title. UCLA finished with 20 points, while Loyola Marymount (51 points), UC Irvine (76 points), Fullerton (92 points) rounded out the top four teams.
Solorza was the first Titan runner across the line, completing the 8k course with a time of 25:15.1. The Buena Park, Calif., native has been the first Titan finisher in the first three meets for Fullerton this season. Freshman Jose Penaloza posted the second best time of 25:36.6 to finish ninth overall (9 points).
Daniel Ramirez (25:45.2) and Brandon Perry (25:49.7) were bunched closely in 10th and 13rd, respectively. Other Titan finishers included Jeff Little who was 15th with a time of 25:51.5, and freshman Sean Graham in 16th with a time of 25:55.2.
Also in the men's competition, sophomore Donald Bernard placed 18th with a time of 26:04.8 while redshirt sophomore Kevin Russell was 20th with a time of 26:08.2.
On the women's side, junior Tijerra Lynch finished in 21st with a time of 19:04.5 and freshman Arianna Fuentes finished right behind in 23rd place with a time of 19:07.8.
Freshman Amanda Crissinger (24th, 19:12.9), freshman Michelle Botello (26th, 19:19.1), freshman Abby Buckhoff (30th, 19:27.8) finished in the top 30.
The Titans will compete next weekend (Sept. 28) in the CSUSB Invitational in San Bernardino, Calif.