UC Merced’s Rios shows well at NAIA Cross Country Championships
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Sofia Rios said it never gets any easier.
Despite qualifying for the NAIA Cross Country Championships each of the last two seasons, the quality of the assembled runners still elicits butterflies. That nervous energy didn’t stop Rios from turning in her best performance yet at the Rim Rock Farm course on Saturday.
The UC Merced junior fought through blustery conditions and a hilly 5K course for a personal record of 20 minutes, 6.4 seconds. Rios placed 198th in the 336-runner field, bettering her 2013 performance by 35 places and 28 seconds.
“I’m not as pleased with my performance as I could be,” Rios said. “I really wanted to hit 19 minutes, so that’s something for me to really push for next year. It would also be nice if my entire team could be here and experience this with me.
“We’ve got the talent. There’s no reason we can’t make it happen next season.”
Men’s Basketball
Hartnell 77, Merced College 75 in Salinas – The Blue Devils lost in heartbreaking fashion, surrendering a tying three-pointer with four seconds left and then getting hit with a technical foul for calling a timeout they didn’t have.
To add insult to injury, while watching film, head coach Bill Russell discovered the call was a mistake and his team still had an available timeout. Deonta Woodard and Rob Martinez each scored a team-high 19 points for Merced (1-5).
Humboldt State 113, UC Merced 58 in Arcata – Freshman guard Joshua Kimble scored a career-high 23 points, but poor second halves cost the Bobcats (0-10) against the Jacks and in Saturday’s 86-57 loss to No. 17 Southern Oregon.
Women’s Basketball
Dominican 69, UC Merced 44 in San Rafael – Shelby Howard hit three three-pointers and scored 15 points, but the Bobcats (2-4) couldn’t overcome 6-of-33 shooting in the second half of their loss to the Penguins (1-2). Brittany Martinez grabbed 10 rebounds for UC Merced.
This story was originally published November 23, 2014 at 9:27 PM with the headline "UC Merced’s Rios shows well at NAIA Cross Country Championships."