By Mason Nesbitt, TMU Sports Information Director

Zach Schroeder has coached his fair share of NAIA All-Americans in more than a decade at the helm of The Master’s University women’s cross country team.

He knows about which he speaks.

“Mikala (Fairchild) (pictured above) and Arianna (Ghiorso) are training like All-Americans,” he said Saturday after the UC Riverside Invitational. “We’re super excited to see how these two progress the second half of the season.”

Fairchild led all Mustangs, finishing 21st overall in the 5,000-meter open race. Her time of 18 minutes, 22 seconds was a season-best.

Ghiorso followed up her solid college debut two weeks ago at the Mark Covert Classic in Brea with a breakthrough performance. She crossed the finish line Saturday in 18:39.9, nearly a minute better than the season opener.

“Arianna crushed her previous personal best,” Schroeder said.

Schroeder was also encouraged by freshman Autumn Nootbaar, who made a considerable jump from where she was in the opener, besting her previous personal record by over a minute.

Nootbaar was TMU’s third finisher Saturday. She finished in 20:41.1. Kayla Gray (21:59.3) and Priscilla Gutierrez (24:28.9) rounded out the Mustangs’ runners.

The Mustangs will now look ahead to their home meet on Sept. 29 at Central Park in Saugus.

For complete results from Saturday, click here.