FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The Coconino Community College cross country teams closed out the regular season Saturday at the UC Riverside Highlander Invitational, held on the UCR Agricultural Operations Course.

The Comet men contested the Open 8K and placed seventh of 14 scoring teams with 192 points. Edgar Avilia-Mendoza led the way with a third-place finish in 24:54.1, just seven seconds behind race winner Mario Aluizo of Los Angeles Harbor (24:47.0). Ian Masayesva gave Coconino a second top-10 finish, placing sixth in 25:12.1.

Elijah Talkalai (72nd, 27:29.7), Rylan Bia (98th, 28:29.4) and Will Nez (130th, 30:22.4) rounded out the Comets’ scoring five, and Sabino Chatter (140th, 31:04.9) was the team’s sixth finisher. Caltech won the Open team title with 63 points.

On the women’s side, Coconino had 2 finishers in the Open 6K and did not record a team score. Lillie Dyer paced the Comets with a 66th-place finish in 24:34.5, followed by Haley Johnson in 115th (28:23.7).

Coconino now turns its attention to the postseason, beginning with the NJCAA Region 1 Championships on Friday, Oct. 30 at Silverlake Park in Tucson.