SANTA CLARITA, Calif.-- The Bakersfield cross country team finished The Mustang Challenge in eleventh-place behind the pace of LaShya Morgan (So., Bakersfield, Calif., Ridgeview HS).

Morgan completed her eighth career race with the 'Runners Saturday morning and has paced the team in each meet. The Bakersfield native finished the 5k course in a time of 19:24, just six seconds off of the CSUB All-Time Top 10 list. Ariana Mariscal (So., Bakersfield, Calif., North HS) completed the course second for the Roadrunners (19:51) while freshman Angel Valdez (Bakersfield, Calif., East HS) finished close behind at 19:56. Bakersfield finished eleventh overall of 17 teams.

“LaShya did well running a season best,” said Marcia Mansur-Wentworth, Bakersfield's Director of Cross Country. “Ariana ran a huge personal best and Angel continues to run consistently and is adapting well to collegiate racing. We had a 90-second gap from 1-5 today and that killed our chances of finishing higher as a team.”

The 'Runners will be back in action next Saturday, Oct. 4, when they take on the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational. The race in Claremont will be Bakersfield's only 6k meet of the regular season and serves as an opportunity to showcase the team's talents on a longer course.

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