Highlanders kick off golf and cross-country seasons | UCR News

The UC Riverside men’s and women’s golf teams kick off their season with a robust tournament schedule.

The women’s golf team welcomed two Riverside natives, the first on the team in a decade. Freshmen Sofia Vargas and Sophia Luna competed at the Utah Open on Sept. 8 in their first collegiate event, with Vargas winning the Wolverine Invitational title, shooting a combined 10-under-par 206 over three rounds while Luna shot a par 72.

Returning track and field player Mitzi Duarte remains a key player on the team. She had a 76.2 stroke average last season and shot a low round of 72 in the second round of the Long Beach State Tri-Dual. Duarte finished the season with two 1-under-par 71s in her last four rounds. She tied for ninth in the recent Eagle Invitational.

“I’m really excited about this season,” said coach Mary Ritchie. “We have a great schedule with a mix of old classics and new places we’ve never played before.”

The team finished second at the Utah Wolverine Invitational and then fifth at the Eagle Invitational on September 22 and 23. The fall season will conclude with the Harbottle Invitational and The Clash at Boulder Creek. The season will begin again on February 2 at UC Irvine, followed by the UCR Soboba Classic, GCU Invitational, Lady Thunderbird Invitational, Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational and Fresno State Classic, leading up to the Big West Championship in April.

Assistant coach Ryan Carter will join the coaching staff and work with both the men’s and women’s teams.

For the men’s team, the goal this season is to build a strong foundation.

“We lost a number of senior players last year, which makes this year a key year for rebuilding the team,” said Ritchie, who is also the men’s team coach.

The men’s team has five new players: first-year students Von Wasson, Stephen Luo, Liam Hartling and Harte Grewal, as well as postgraduate student Tyllet Leib.

Leading the men’s team is returning athlete Mark Gao, who posted a 76.7 stroke average last season. Gao finished 27th at the Big West Championship, leading UCR with an 8-over 224.

The men’s team competed in the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational on September 21, finishing in the top 30 and having the distinction of having three of the five team members birdie the 18th hole. The event will be followed by the Bill Cullum Invitational on October 7 and 8, the Stockton Pacific Invitational and the Kapolei Invitational, which will conclude the fall season. The spring season will begin on February 10 with the Van Harte Orange County Collegiate Classis, followed by the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate, the GCU Invitational, the UC San Diego Invitational and the Seattle University Redhawk Invitational, the Gaucho Invitational, and culminating with the Big West Championship in late April.

Cross-country running

The UCR men’s and women’s cross country teams began preparing for the Big West and Regional Championships. After opening their season at the UCLA/Santa Barbara meet on Aug. 30, the Highlanders hosted the UCR Invitational on Sept. 21, where they finished in the top 10 among both the men’s and women’s teams for the fourth consecutive year.

Joshua Mendoza, last year’s MPSF All-Academic honoree, led the pack at the recent Highlander Invitational, finishing 13th as the Highlanders’ top runner and helping the men’s team to a fourth-place overall invitational finish. On the women’s side, Colette Lowengrub notched the second-best 6k finish in program history, earning her second top-10 finish at the UCR Invitational and fourth-best all-time in the 6k. Isatu N’Diaye also secured a top-60 finish, and Joy Weber finished in the top-70.

“Our main goal this season is to focus on our own process,” said assistant coach Zach Newsom. “Last year, we got stuck chasing conference position, which put too much emphasis on the outcome. This year, we’re working toward our individual and team ‘20-mile march’ every day, both in practice and competition, believing that will lead to the desired outcome at the end of the season.”

The two teams will face off in October at the Bill Dellinger Invitational at the University of Oregon, then host another invitational tournament at home ahead of the Big West Championships and NCAA Regionals.

This season, the men’s team welcomed freshmen Aidan Dominguez, Kai Marotta, Matthew Mullane, Lyle Phillips and Ben Rippe. Senior Ashraf Abdelmagig led the team with a fourth-place finish at last year’s Big West Championships and earned NCAA All-West Region honors with a 22nd-place finish at the NCAA West Regionals. Abdelmagig also broke the UCR 5k record at the Boston University Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener last season. The men’s team finished fourth overall in the Big West last season.

This season, the women’s team is joined by transfers Morgan Nygren and Ingrid Tamayo, as well as sophomores Sophie Moser-Smith and Kylie Nasca. The team is led by senior Collette Lowengrub, who finished sixth at the recent Highlander Invitational, earned Big West All-Academic honors last year and finished 37th at the NCAA West Regionals. Last season, the women’s team put together some of its best results in both conference and region, finishing third in the Big West and 11th overall at the NCAA Regionals, the team’s best regional finish since finishing eighth in 2007.

“Our schedule is designed to maximize practice and give it our all when it really counts,” Newsom said. “We’ll have a solid block of practice before the UCR Invitational and Dellinger Invitational, and when the Big West and NCAA Regionals come around, we’ll be ready.”

The cross country team’s next competition will be on October 11th at the Bill Dellinger Invitational in Eugene, Oregon.