CARBON CANYON, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's cross country team finished third out of 13 teams, tops among non-Division I programs, as it opened the season at the Mark Covert Classic hosted by CSU Fullerton on Saturday. 

UC San Diego and San Diego State finished first and second at the meet, while the Athenas (103 points) edge out The Master's University by one point for third. The Athenas, who were running without All-Americans Riley Capuano and Elle Marsyla, also finished ahead of Division I programs California Baptist, Cal State Fullerton and the University of San Diego in fifth through seventh. 

Sadie Drucker led the way for CMS with an eighth-place finish in 18:04.2 over the 5K race. Sara Wexler was two spots behind in tenth with an 18:07.5. 

Angie Gushue was the third Athena finisher in 24th in 18:39.5, while Revere Schmidt was four spots behind in 28th in 18:47.5. Denise Chen was the fifth and final scorer for CMS in 33rd in 18:55.0. 

Olivia Smith earned a top-40 finish in her first collegiate race in 37th place, while Brannan Rosenfeld was in 45th, Talia Green in 51st and Olivia Backholm in 61st in their CMS debuts. 

The Athenas will be back in action in three weeks when they compete at the UC Riverside Invitational.