MALIBU, Calif. - Running what CSUB Head Coach Robert Boyles deemed an aggressive race, senior Arianna Celis (Perris/Riverside CC) took top individual honors as the Roadrunner cross country team split a tri-meet with Pepperdine and the University of San Diego Wednesday evening in Malibu.

CSUB defeated San Diego 15-47 but fell to the host Waves 24-33.

"I knew we were going to have one of our best teams ever, but we did better than I thought we would our first time out this season," said Boyles. "To be honest, three of our top five were sick last week, so I didn't know what to expect tonight. I very happy with the way we competed."

Celis, of course, stole the headline Wednesday, navigating the hilly Malibu 5K course in 18:54.96 to defeat Pepperdine's Aneasha Lawrence by 15 seconds.

"Her strategy was to be aggressive and put the hammer down, and that's what she did," said Boyles. "She ran a great race and led all the way."As pleased as he was with Celis' effort, he reserved his highest praise for sophomore Cecilia Lopez (North HS), who finished sixth overall at 19:56.48.

 "Cecilia made a huge improvement," said Boyles of Lopez, who ran 21:19 on the course as a freshman. "It was her best race ever."

In addition to Celis and Lopez, the 'Runners got top 10 finishes from Casey Glassey (Loma Linda/Riverside CC), who placed fifth in 19:50.54, and junior Judith Mata (Oxnard/Rio Mesa HS) who finished 10^th in 20:32.25.