FULLERTON, Calif. – As members of the Concordia University Irvine cross country teams prepare for Saturday's PacWest Cross Country Championships, the Titan Invite on Friday afternoon allowed some of the younger Eagles to improve their times closer to home.

The CUI contingent on the men's side placed seventh in a field that included runners from more than 20 different schools.  In fact, the Eagles featured six different runners among the top 50 to score points.

Freshmen David Berardi and Isaiah Duport led the Eagles by earning 22 points and 24 points, respectively.  Dustin Berger was right behind as he and Owen Beam completed the course in under 27 minutes as well.

Michael Vaquilar also crossed the finish line as the fifth-fastest CUI runner, followed by Bryce Tondryk and Jose Munguia Zaragoza to round out the scoring for the Eagles.

On the women's side, CUI had four different Eagles finish in the top 90. This included Kelsey Ballard who earned 37 points and Keryn Casteel who only needed 21 minutes to complete the 5K course. Ballard's time of 19:26 was the fastest on the day for the Green and Gold.

Priscella Gomez and Lauren Reinhardt also sped to the finish in 22 minutes or less.

The Eagles now turn their full attention to Saturday's exciting opportunity at the PacWest Cross Country Championships out in Hawai'i.

CLICK HERE for the PacWest preview of Saturday's meets

The CUI men were picked third in the conference preseason poll and the CUi women were projected to take fourth place in the preseason voting.

CLICK HERE for the full CUI cross country schedule