The University of Hawai'i women's cross country team put out a strong showing in its first 6k meet of the season Saturday morning at the 39^th annual UC Riverside Invitational, placing 15^th overall.
 
"Really pleased with this morning," said head coach Tim Boyce. "Sophia (Lodigiani) had a really strong race to lead excellent efforts across the board and we met all pre-race goals set for this young squad of six freshmen and 2 sophomores (eligibility wise). Great start in our first travel meet, looking forward to the next."

UH was paced by fellow freshmen Sophia Lodigiani and Rebecca DeKay who both competed in their first collegiate 6k meet. Lodigiani finished first for UH, coming down the chute with a mark of 22:21.5 for 68^th place, while DeKay crossed the finish line in second for Hawai'i and 102^nd overall (22:55.0).
 
Redshirt sophomore Olivia Hill finished third for UH and posted her fastest 6k meet of her young career, finishing with a time of 22:59.3, beating her old mark by over 25 seconds (23:25.97).
 
Rounding out the scoring five, freshmen Sarriah Brown and Alyssa Barnes finished 114^th (23:18.3) and 117^th (23:22.0) respectively.
 
 Also competing for the Rainbow Wahine were Anna Backus (125^th, 23:46.9), Lexi Beggan (142^nd, 24:24.1) and Sophia Morgan (143^rd, 24:27.0).
 
UH logged 432 points for an average 6k time of 22:59.16,
 
The Rainbow Wahine will be back in action in Honolulu competing at the Chaminade Invitational on Saturday, September 21.