FRESNO, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's and women's cross country teams finished fifth at the Seawolf Invite at Woodward Park on Saturday morning.

The Bobcats season opener saw them compete against multiple future conference opponents and head coach Vicente Velarde's squad was able to finish in front of Cal State LA. The Bobcats also dominated current conference opponent Soka.

Irene Martinez highlighted the Bobcats morning with a top 20 finish, placing 19^th overall in the field of 74 with a program top ten time of 19:39.4. Her time is good for eighth on the program's all-time top 10 list.

Elizette Ysais finished second for UC Merced crossing the finish line 26^th overall in 20:04. Leslie Aquino took 34^th in her collegiate debut in 21:00, while Jaydah Aguilar (22:37.8/50^th) and Kasia Holland (22:46.1/51^st) rounded out the Bobcats scoring.

Alberto Alves was the Bobcats top scorer for the first time in his career and he crossed the finish line in the four-mile race in 21:59.87 to place 18^th in field of 85.

Sharvin Manjrekar was next for UC Merced placing 23^rd overall with a time of 22:28.3. Joshua Riley (22:34.7/27^th) followed shortly after and then it was Derrick Pickrel (22:49.5/30^th) and Cole Rommelfanger (22:58.4/32^nd) to cross the finish line for UC Merced.

Other notables include Mia Abonza, Jorge Mandujano, and Sergio Vivar Jr. making their collegiate debut.

Jailyn Batis, Sinthya Duran, Kevin Pedroza, and Alberto Guevara also competed for the Bobcats on Saturday. Jonathan Chavez did not race.

Up next, UC Merced will race at the Kim Duyst Twilight and River Oaks Golf Course in Ceres, Calif., on Saturday, September 14.