Trojan cross country closed out its regular season at UC Riverside on Saturday, competing against 22 other schools. The Highlander Invitational gave USC another opportunity to face familiar regional opponents, including UC Irvine, Biola University and Point Loma Nazarene University, on the same course where the Trojans competed in September. 

Although the team’s overall finish — 19th out of 20 placing schools — left much to be desired, a silver lining came from four individual records by senior Paige Unger and freshmen Ivanka Malysheva, Emilia Gonzalez, and Alexandra Sparno. 

USC competed in the women’s collegiate 6K race at 8:40 a.m., with five runners on the starting line. This race marked the Trojans’ fourth meet this season and their last before the Big Ten Championships.

Freshman Monique Stewart ran her first meet at the Highlander Invite, proving her strength in speed and endurance. She ran nearly four miles in 22:30.3, finishing 128th overall in her first collegiate race. During the meet, she moved up 27 places and maintained an even pace, averaging seven to eight minutes every two kilometers. 

Four Trojans record personal-best times

Unger was first to cross the finish line for USC at 80th place, running a season personal best: 21:50.2. During the last two kilometers of the race, she maintained her footing despite challenging terrain, finishing strong and adding 71 points to USC’s final tally. 

Following closely behind was Malysheva, who ran a 22:18.3 in her second race of the season, almost 40 seconds faster than her debut. Malysheva continued her streak as USC’s second finisher and showed great promise as one of the Trojans’ newest and most valuable assets. 

Another outstanding freshman performance came from Gonzalez, who finished 158th and set a personal record of 22:53.2 in the 6K race. 

Gonzalez’s consistency throughout the race improved her personal record by more than three minutes, a massive time drop despite being a freshman. Though the young athlete has only run in two 6-kilometer races so far, Saturday’s showing proves her potential as a runner to watch in the Trojans’ upcoming conference meets. 

The final record setter was Sparno, who shaved quite a bit of time off her initial record, placing 184th and running a 23:27.7 race. This beat her previous personal best by nearly a minute. Sparno has been a consistent presence for the Trojans, competing in every race thus far.

Fierce competition at second 6-kilometer meet 

USC’s cumulative score was 511, which was enough to beat only one of the 19 other placing competitors: CSU Northridge, which placed 20th. Although many runners ran personal bests, their team performance did not improve. 

After finishing behind the Trojans at the 5-kilometer UCR Invitational on Sept. 19, UC Riverside surpassed USC, placing eighth overall in comparison to their previous showing of 18th place. 

Another program that proved victorious against the Trojans was UC Irvine, which placed 14th overall to continue its winning streak against USC.

Despite seeing mixed results throughout their regular season, the Trojans enter the postseason with high hopes, preparing to face other Big Ten schools such as UCLA, Ohio State, Indiana and Northwestern. 

In less than two weeks, the Trojans will travel to Madison, Wisconsin, to compete in the Big Ten Championships on Oct. 30 at 7:35 a.m.