SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – The Concordia University Irvine cross country teams were looking to improve their times this past weekend in their second race of the season. After turning some heads at the Biola Invitational, the Eagles continued their strong start to the year at the Coyote Challenge with both the men's and women's teams placing second in Saturday's meet.
 
Seniors Bailey Wade and Rosalba Cabrera led the charge in the first race of the day. Wade posted her highest finish ever by crossing the line in third place out of 146 runners. She set a personal record in the process, completing the 5k race in 17 minutes and 58 seconds. Cabrera followed suit with a season-best time of 18:12 to join Wade in the top 15.
 
Overall, the CUI women finished second out of 12 teams with Claremont Mudd-Scripps, a top 10 nationally ranked DIII school, the only team to beat them in points.
 
Another standout performance came from CUI freshman Jori Paradis. The Oregon native stayed with the theme by cutting her previous 5k total by over a minute and placing 18th. Eagles senior Anamauri Hernandez followed Paradis across the line in 19th place to give CUI four runners in the top 20.
 
Freshman Adriana Gil (23rd), senior Hannah Hopkins (26th) and newcomer Caitlin Shannon (28th) made it seven Eagles in the top 30 with freshman Alana Hurley close behind (32nd).  Across the board, practically the entire CUI women's team averaged almost an entire minute faster compared to last year's race at the same Coyote Challenge.
 
The start of the men's race proved to be challenging for the Eagles, but they persevered to post multiple personal records in their 8k race. Angel Aguirre was the first Eagle to complete the course and earned a personal-best time of 24:39. His teammate Hector Arteaga also placed in the top 15, setting the tone for another second place finish.
 
Jose Munguia was the first freshman on Concordia's men's team to complete the Coyote Challenge. He finished with a time of 25:30, which was over a minute faster than his previous 8k time. Ocean View High School alum David Brito (22nd) and freshman Trevor Branstetter (31st) rounded out the top five finishers. Just as on the women's side, CMS was the only school to post a lower point total than CUI.
 
The CUI men's and women's teams are looking forward to facing more fast competition at the Sacramento State Pre-Nationals race on Saturday, Sept. 28, running against more nationally ranked DI and DII schools.
 
For the full CUI cross country schedule, click here.