In the hopes of continued improvement, USC cross country took on its third race of the 2026 season following promising finishes at both its first and second races. 

On Saturday morning, the Trojans placed ninth among 21 competing schools at the Master’s University Invite in the women’s collegiate 6-kilometer race — a result mostly on par with their past two races, considering the differences in length and number of competitors.

The near-four-mile race in Santa Clarita began at 8:45 a.m., with five Trojan runners taking the line. The competing athletes were freshmen Monserrat Santillan Silva, Ivanka Malysheva, Alexandra Sparno and Emilia Gonzalez, as well as senior Paige Unger.

Freshmen find success in third race

While Saturday marked the Trojans’ first 6k race of the season, they kept their streak of top placements, even with a predominantly freshman group.

Santillan Silva, one of USC’s newest runners, has shown strong potential in her first year, placing within the top 10 in every race this season. In her collegiate debut at the Pepperdine Waves Invite, she placed second, and followed it up with a fourth-place finish in the UCR Invitational. Continuing her success, Santillan Silva ran a 22:06.7 6k, earning her eighth place overall Saturday morning. 

While eighth is a minor drop from her two previous races — considering her last race had more competitors — she still beat 181 other scoring racers; her consistency as a top finisher could show extreme promise for the rest of the season, as well as the future of USC cross country overall. 

Another outstanding freshman performance this year has come from Malysheva, who placed 26th at the Master’s Invite with a time of 22:56.2. Her past two finishes have also been near the top, placing in fifth at Pepperdine and 22nd at UCR. 

In her second season with the Trojans, Unger has also shown consistency in the past three races. The only senior to run at the Master’s Invite for USC, Unger ran a 23:31.1, placing 42nd among competitors. Her run at this meet was a personal best in 6k, beating her old best by 19 seconds.

For Sparno, the race marked her third run of the season, participating in every race thus far. On Saturday, she placed 71st with a 24:27.4 time. 

As for Gonzalez, her second race of the season saw her finish in 26:08.3 to place 140th, a drop from 27th at the Pepperdine Waves Invite. 

USC places ninth in first 6k race 

The Trojans’ combined score was 242 points, landing USC between the University of Nevada Las Vegas, which placed eighth with 219 points, and Azusa Pacific University, which finished in 10th with 280 points. 

California Lutheran University, a frequent opponent for the Trojans this season, placed 15th overall at the Master’s Invite after finishing behind USC in each of the first two races. Westmont College, which USC nearly bested at UCR, fared slightly better than the Trojans on Saturday morning, placing sixth at the invite. 

USC has been consistently outrunning Cal Lutheran but losing out to schools like Westmont — the gap between the schools grew from a one-place differential to three places apart between UCR and the Master’s Invite. The Trojans, though, will not be seeing Westmont runners at their next few races. 

Nevertheless, every race remains different based on the number of teams and individual competitors shifting. While this race had fewer finishers than the last race at UCR — 189 versus 296 — the race’s length can also affect finishes. 

The Master’s University Invitational was USC’s first 6k race of the season following a 5-kilometer race at UCR and a 4-kilometer race at Pepperdine, but it will not be the last.

In less than a week, cross country will be running another 6k in Oregon. The Trojans will do three laps around Pine Ridge Golf Club in Springfield, with Saturday’s race likely helping to prepare them for the furthest meet of the season thus far. 

The Trojan cross country team will be in the cool Oregon weather for the Bill Dellinger Invitational on Friday at 11:15 a.m.