SAN FRANCISCO – University of California, Merced cross country competed at the SF State Invitational on Friday afternoon at Speedway Meadow at Golden Gate Park. Friday marked the Bobcats first time at the SF State Invite since 2019.

In his UC Merced debut, Riki Moscoso led the Bobcats in the men's 8k with a time of 25:53.4. He placed 27^th in the field of 178 and his time was the second fastest time of any Bobcat all-time at the SF State Invite.

Draven Grondona was the next Bobcat to cross the finish line, securing a 73^rd place finish in 26:55.4. Jorge Mandujano came in shortly after with a time 27:01.9 which was good for 81st in the field. Steven Gonzalez (83rd/27:05) and Kitto Gonzalez (85^th/27:08.1) brought home the Bobcats team finish as the fourth and fifth scorers. Both Bobcats ran a personal-best time. Sergio Vivar Jr. (96^th/27:24.1) also cracked the top 100.

UC Merced's men placed 9^th out of 14 teams.

Brigette Trujillo was the Bobcats top finisher in the women's 6k field of 133 as she finished in 83^rd place with a time of 24:42.4. Her mark was the second fastest SF State Invite time for UC Merced women's cross country all-time.

Kasia Holland recorded an 89^th place finish stopping the clock at 25:09.5. Sofia Najarro was the Bobcats third scorer with a 96^th place finish in a personal-best time of 25:55.7. Mariah Dhillon (99^th/26:22.6) and Mia Abonza (111^th/27:38.9) rounded out the Bobcats top five. Ciarra Cabrera-Martinez (122^nd/30:55.2) made her collegiate debut. The women's squad took 12^th place out of 13 teams.

Up next, UC Merced will run at the Bronco Invitational on Saturday, October 18 in Sunnyvale, Calif.