SANTA ROSA, Calif. — The Dominican University of California women's cross country finished third out of seven teams at the Sonoma State Invitational at Spring Lake Regional Park on Saturday. The men finished in sixth place of six teams.

Dominican was led by junior Julianna Mendez's third-place finish. She crossed the finish line with a time of 22:36.0, 1:26 off the pace of first-place finisher Hannah Bell of Cal State Monterey Bay. The Otters also were the top team with a total of 1:52:55 for 26 points. Host Sonoma State finished with 63 points, barely edging Dominican's 64 points. SSU actually clocked in at 2:03:33, a slower time than Dominican's 2:02:34, which was on average 13 seconds faster than the Seawolves.

Freshman Sami Koss finished in eighth place in the 60-runner field with a personal record in the 6K with a time of 23:08.0. Sophomore Janine Villanueva also recorded a PR with a time of 25:12.0, good for 18th. Freshman Gabi Foyle finished in 22nd with a time of 25:31.4. Fellow freshman Karina Duarte rounded out the team scoring with a time of 26:06, good for 30th. Michelle Miranda followed Duarte with a time of 26:23. Sophomore Sierra Najolia placed 37th with a time of 26:59.0. Junior Katie Gomez finished 49th with a time of 28:46.0.

On the men's side, sophomore Anthony Sassano, despite having been sick all week, led the Penguins in 21st place out of 51 runners with a time of 30:36.0 in the 8K. Junior Chris Suen placed 28th with a time of 31:38.0. Senior Patrick Davis placed 44th with his time of 36:03.2. Freshman Pavlos Peritos crossed the finish line in 36:09.0, in 46th. Freshman Reece Dominguez, appearing in his first collegiate race, placed 50th with a time of 40:25.0. Cal State Monterey Bay placed the top five runners, led by Connor Henderson's time of 26:48.

Dominican will head to the SF State Invitational on Friday, Oct. 9 in Golden Gate Park. That will be the Penguins' final tuneup before the PacWest Championships hosted by California Baptist on Saturday, Oct. 24.