CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona's Robert Cheseret (right) came in first for the second time in three meets after completing the 8,000-meter course in 23:59 Friday at the ASU Invite.

The UA cross country team headed north to Tempe this weekend to compete in the Arizona State Invitational, with both the men's and women's squads taking second place in the meet.

In a meet dubbed a "training race" by head coach James Li, Arizona was among six college squads participating in Tempe. The Wildcats' opponents included Utah, Hawaii, New Mexico State, Long Beach State and host ASU.

Robert Cheseret was the story once again for Arizona with a first-place finish. The freshman averaged 4:49.6 minutes per mile to speed to a win for the second time in three meets. His time of 23:59.3 was 10 seconds faster than Juan Reyes of Arizona State, who finished in second place.

Cheseret ran well against marginal competition this week, Li said. According to the coach, the real test lies in next week's meet in Iowa.

"This was kind of a low-key meet," Li said. "We know Robert is one of the top runners in the nation."

Finishing behind Cheseret ÷ sandwiched between three Sun Devil runners ÷ was senior Kyle Goklish in fifth place. After sitting out last week's Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn., Goklish showed progression.

"We expect Kyle to improve with (more) races," Li said.

The pair of Arizona schools dominated the meet, finishing in the first 11 spots, with the Wildcats claiming four of the top nine positions.

For the women, Beth Hoge topped all Wildcat runners. The junior earned Arizona sixth-place honors with a time of 17:59.3. Michelle Hirakawa-Wong was the closest Wildcat to Hoge, finishing 13th.

The Wildcat women squad's steady progression was noticed in Tempe.

"Everyone had been improving ÷ you can see it," said Li, "Even ASU noticed."

Despite the increase in production, the Sun Devils dominated the leaderboard on their own turf. Arizona State finished with seven out of the top 10 finishes.

Arizona rounded out the top 20. Nicole Gurnicz, Ashley Ippolito, Jenn Ford and Karen Langdorf finished in the 17 through 20 spots, respectively.

Arizona moves on to compete in the NCAA pre-nationals in Waterloo, Iowa next weekend. Li's squad will face its first real test of the season in Iowa. Li said he hopes to get a feel for his team's abilities and an indication for how the rest of the season will play out. The Waterloo meet will feature cross country squads from around the country.

Initially, Arizona was slated to travel to Fayetteville, Ark. to participate in the Chili Pepper Invitational before a schedule change allowed the Wildcats to head to Iowa.