DENVER, Colo. – The Regis University women's cross country team ran in the Roadrunner Invitational hosted by Metropolitan State University-Denver on Saturday.

"Between our top four women, I think we ran well," said women's head cross country coach John Esquibel. "I think they're where we want them to be. I think we got some personal bests today and they're getting faster."

First-year Mariah Heuer led the Rangers placing 116th overall with a time of 27 minutes, 7.3 seconds. Senior McKenna Uhing followed close behind in 121st place with a time of 27:29.6.

"Mariah's coming along." She felt like her first 6K of her college career felt no different than a 5k," Esquibel said. "And I keep telling McKenna that she's the leader of this team and she has to push it. She responded really, really well to that today."

Finishing out the women's team members in action Saturday were Mikaela Taylor, Lily Saddoris, Annika Zenk, and Abigail Blanner.

Taylor finished in 125th with an overall time of 27:44.8. Saddoris placed 128th overall with a time of 27:55.0. Zenk crossed the finish line at 29:41.3 in 134th while Blanner placed 136th with a time of 36:58.0.

"I think we're going to make some adjustments and run as a group," said Esquibel. "As a coach I need to decide what's best for the team and try to work together with them for some of the workouts. It's a long season, so I'm thinking about building their speed intervals a little at a time moving forward." 

UP NEXT: The women run again on Oct. 1st in the Ted Castaneda classic hosted by Colorado College in Colorado Spring, Colo.

"It might not be a bigger meet," said Esquibel. "But any time you go anywhere it's competitive, but we're showing a lot of promise for Riverside later this month."