RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Behind an individual victory from redshirt junior Kevin Lynch, the Utah Valley men's cross country team placed second overall at the UC Riverside Invitational on Saturday morning with 70 total points. The women's team too had a strong showing at the meet by placing third with 108 points thanks to a trio of top-25 finishes. 
 
Lynch won the 8K men's invitational on Saturday morning with a blazing time of 23:58.2 to anchor the men's squad and help UVU finish in second place. A total of five Wolverines finished in the top-30 on the men's side, as teammates Geofrey Kemboi placed ninth (24:25.4), Anthony Ocegueda 15th (24:41.8), Britain Reynolds 21st (24:49.4) and Adrian Jones 27th (25:00.5). 
 
Freshmen Hawk Call (25:13.1) and Jared Gonzalez-Perez (25:26.5) also raced well for the men's squad by taking 37th and 51st, respectively. Kale Sharp (70th, 25:38.1) and Lamek Keditukei (81st, 25:50.6) rounded out UVU's competitors in the men's invitational.
 
Lynch's victory marked Utah Valley's second consecutive individual win at the UCR Invite, as former Wolverine great Tyson Lambert won the same race a season ago. 
 
"The men's team tactically ran a pretty darn good race. We had a pack of three running right up there with the top group, with Kevin (Lynch) pulling away and winning it," head UVU coach Scott Houle said. "This is a great thing for him (Kevin Lynch) after coming off of a major injury last year. The second-place finish was definitely a boost for us and we're excited about our chances this season."   
 
On the women's side, sophomore Hannah Branch led the way in the 6K invitational by placing 12th overall with a time of 20:54.5. Freshmen Megan Nielsen and Mazzie Melaney also had strong performances for the Wolverines by placing 22nd and 25th with respective times of 21:16.1 and 21:20.5. 
 
Aisha Graham-Perez (21:26.8) was next for the UVU women by placing 30th overall, while Maggie Zwahlen followed in 32nd (21:31.4), Abby Linford in 52nd (21:58.3), Skye Jeppson in 53rd (21:59.3), Kami Lynch in 58th (22:07.8) and Taylor Viertel in 72nd (22:18.7). 
 
"I was very pleased with how our women's team performed today. We lost five of our nine starters from last year, so this was great to see," Houle added. "Hannah (Branch) finished over 30 seconds faster on this course than she did last year, and both Megan (Nielson) and Mazzie (Melaney) look to have bright futures ahead of themselves. Overall, our women's squad did a great job." 
 
In-state foe Southern Utah won both the men's and women's invitational races on the day, while new NCAA Division I and WAC foe California Baptist finished in second on the women's side. With the second-place finish by the men and the third-place by the women, UVU finished ahead of Sacramento State, UC Irvine, San Diego State, Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount, UNLV, CSUN, Hawaii, WAC foe CSU Bakersfield, and the host UC Riverside Highlanders on the day. 
 
A number of Wolverines also competed in a pair of open races on the day, and Savannah Neuberger fronted the women's team by placing 10th overall in the women's open 5K with a time of 17:44.8. Paityn Chynoweth and Abby West too ran well for the women's side by finishing in 16th (18:16.1) and 25th places (18.31.5), respectively. Jacob Egan (26:16.2) and Devin Sellers (26:17.1) fronted the men's team in the open 8K race by placing 35th and 36th. 

In all, a total of two women and three men broke into Utah Valley's top-five course record book at the UCR Invite on Saturday. Lynch moved into second place and just 4.5 seconds back of Lambert's course record, while Branch moved into third on the women's side. 
 
The Wolverines will next compete on Friday, Sept. 28 at Notre Dame's Joe Piane Invitational in South Bend, Indiana.