RIVERSIDE, Calif.—The University of Hawai'i cross country team wrapped up its first road trip of the season by placing 21st overall in the UC Riverside Invitational on Saturday as senior Caelan Miller recorded a personal best and put her name in the top-10 all-time in the UH.
 
The Rainbow Wahine went up against some of the best competition on the west coast as 31 teams converged on southern California for the annual 6k event as UCR celebrated 41 years of the invitational.
 
"Overall, a really solid race for us," said head coach Tim Boyce. "Best we have competed as a group in an opener, which featured great competition. Caelan (Miller) entered our 6K top-10 performers with a personal best of  21:25.6. Keilah (Wilkes) with what I think is our best 6K debut for a frosh of 22:06.3. Top four were very solid as we begin to pack up behind, we can start looking to move up in the team standings. A lot to build on for the Rainbow Wahine."
 
Miller's time placed her No. 7 in the program's top 10, passing Shannon McClish's time of 21:41.4 in 2019 and fellow senior teammate Sophia Morgan's time of 21:44.2 from the same event a season ago. Miller finished at 53rd overall in the group of 268 competitors.
 
Morgan placed at 85th with a time of 21:47.7, three seconds shy of her time from 2021. Following the same trend as the Big Wave Invitational, Wilkes finished third on the team at 22:06.3 for 111th overall. Sophomore Sam North paced just behind Wilkes at 133rd with a time of 22:15.4.
 
The University of Arizona led the pack with a score of 140 compared to the 'Bows at 552. The event featured 11 Big West teams, as six of those squads finished in the top 10. Cal Poly led the pack for the Big West finishing second overall, scoring 141 points, narrowly surpassed by Arizona.