CLAREMONT, Calif.-- The Roadrunner cross country team finished 12th of 17 teams at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational Saturday morning. LaShya Morgan (So., Bakersfield, Calif., Ridgeview HS) continued as Bakersfield's leader for the ninth consecutive meet and managed to crack the Bakersfield Division I Top 10 performance list.

Morgan finished the 6k course in a time of 23:41, strong enough for the seventh fastest 6k time since Bakersfield's switch to Division I in 2007. Angel Valdez (Fr., Bakersfield, Calif., East HS) just missed out on joining Morgan in the Top 10, finishing the course in 24 minutes, 7 seconds, while Judith Mata holds the 10th fastest D-I time for Bakersfield at 24:07. Morgan finished 39th overall while Valdez placed 56th in the large pool of 194 student-athletes.

Orieth Rodriguez (Jr., Bakersfield, Calif., Bakersfield College) finished third for the 'Runners in Claremont with a time of 25:20. Megan Thompson (R-Sr., Fellows, Calif., Taft Union HS) and Tori Blackmon (So., Bakersfield, Calif., Stockdale HS) rounded out the Bakersfield Top 5, finishing at 25:31 and 26:04, respectively. Bakersfield finished with an average team time of 24:57 and 317 points.

"I am pleased with LaShya's and Angel's performances today," said Marcia Mansur-Wentworth, Bakersfield's Director of Cross Country. "Too many of our runners were out of position to be effective in the team standings. Ariana had some trouble with a foot injury and Megan had an off day. It wasn't what we hoped for at all, but we will look to move forward."

The 'Runners will return to action in two weeks when they take on the Cal Poly Invitational 5k. The start gun goes off at 9 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 18, in San Luis Obispo.

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