TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Seven Bobcats combined from the University of California, Merced men's and women's cross country teams ran at the NAIA National Cross Country Championships on Friday morning at Apalachee Regional Park in Florida.

Elizette Ysais highlighted four UC Merced women's runners, while Jonathan Chavez was the Bobcats first of three men's runners to cross the finish line.

Ysais ran the fastest national championship race in program history with a time of 18:54 and became the first ever women's runner to place in the top 100 with her 100th place finish. Ysais' time was eleven seconds faster than the Bobcats previous national championship record, while her 100th place finish was 43 spots ahead of the previous Bobcats best.

Alexandra Lopez crossed second for the Bobcats with a time of 19:20, good for the third fastest national championship time in program history. Lopez placed 148th in the field.

Both Ysais and Lopez competed in their third consecutive national meet.

Carissa Estrada (19:41/206th) and Anjaneesa Ward (20:00/239th) registered the sixth and eighth fastest times for the Bobcats at the national meet. Ward's national meet was the first of her career.

Chavez ran the 8K in 26:27 to cross the finish line 209th. His 26:27 time was the fastest for UC Merced men's cross country at the national race since 2018 and the fourth fastest time on the top 10 list.

Sharvin Manjrekar (26:53/251st) and Noah Vasquez (28:18/301st) competed in their first career national championship on Friday morning. 

Each race featured 326 total runners. Abraham Chelangam of Oklahoma City won the individual title with a time 23:41, while Lina May of William Carey took top honors in the women's race with a time of 16:50.

Dordt won the team title on the men's side, with Taylor University taking home the team title on the women's side.

Stay up to date with UC Merced men's and women's cross country in the offseason by following the teams on social media @UCMercedXCTrack.