Men's Cross Country Heads to Seattle for NCAA West Regional

Friday, November 10

Seattle, WA

11:30 AM

UC Irvine

NCAA West Regional

Men's Cross Country Heads to Seattle for NCAA West Regional

November 08, 2017 | Men's Cross Country

at NCAA West Regional
Date: Friday, Nov. 10
Event: Men's 10K
Time: 11:30 a.m. (PST)
Location: Jefferson Park Golf Course - Seattle, Wash.
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THIS WEEK
The UC Irvine men's cross country team embarks on its first out-of-state road trip as it travels to Seattle, Wash., for the NCAA West Regional on Friday, Nov. 10. The men's 10,000-meter race is scheduled for an 11:30 a.m. start.

The regional meet will be held at Jefferson Park Golf Course for the third time in the last six years (2012, 2015). Sam Ayala, Kit Carter, Ashton Garcia, Hector Garcia, Andrew Graciano, Izzak Mireles, Jon Rodriguez and Ravi Sharma are set to represent UCI.

Mireles and Hector Garcia are the only two 'Eaters with NCAA West Regional experience. Last year, Garcia led the team as he clocked in at 31:44.0 to place 92nd, and Mireles was 98th at 31:51.7. As a team, UC Irvine finished 20th overall. Stanford won the team title, while Portland was second and UCLA was third. Mireles is also the only current Anteater who competed at the 2015 regional in Seattle.

QUALIFYING PROCESS
Over 30 men's and women's cross country teams will be in Seattle to race for a spot on the starting line of the NCAA Cross Country Championships. A total of 31 teams will qualify for the national meet with 18 automatic bids (top two in each region) and 13 at-large bids. After the teams have been determined, 38 additional individuals per gender are selected to compete at the NCAA Championships, with the top-four finishers at each regional earning automatic qualification.

SOPHOMORE LEADER
The Anteaters may have graduated their top runner from last year, but sophomore Hector Garcia made a smooth transition into that role in 2017. Garcia has led the team in four of their five races this season, including two weeks ago at the Big West Championships. The Los Angeles, Calif., native covered the 8000-meter course in 24:43.7 to come in sixth out of 68 competitors. The top-10 showing earned him his first career All-Big West nod, while it was the third-straight year the 'Eaters had an all-conference performer.

Garcia also opened the campaign with his first collegiate victory at the Pepperdine Invitational 5K. In addition, he was the runner-up at the Master's University XC Invitational (8K), and placed among the top-10 in an elite field of NCAA Division I athletes at the UC Riverside 8K Invitational.

MIRELES EARNS BIG WEST ATHLETE OF THE WEEK HONORS
Senior Izzak Mireles was named the Big West Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Week on Oct. 17, for his performance at the Highlander Invitational. Mireles established a 6K personal-record 17:56.9, which eclipsed his previous best by over 12 seconds. The Livingston, Calif., native was the top Big West finisher and earned runner-up honors out of 122 overall competitors. It was Mireles' best showing of the year and his third top-three performance as he was also third at the Pepperdine Invitational and Master's University XC Invitational. It was Mireles' first career weekly award and it was the first for the Anteaters since 2014.

AND WE'RE OFF
UC Irvine finished fifth at the Big West Championships in Riverside on Saturday, Oct. 28. Sophomore Hector Garcia led the way as he completed the 8K race in 24:43.7 to come in sixth out of 68 runners. Garcia earned his first career All-Big West award and notched his fourth top-10 performance of the 2017 season. Senior Izzak Mireles crossed the finish line next for UCI, taking 23rd with a time of 25:13.7. Junior Ashton Garcia followed in 29th (25:30.2), while freshman Ravi Sharma was 37th (25:47.4). Junior Jon Rodriguez was the team's fifth and final scorer at 26:50.1 (59th).

On Oct. 14, the 'Eaters posted a second-place team finish with three individuals in the top-15 at the Highlander Invitational. Mireles led the Anteater pack, claiming runner-up honors with a 6000-meter personal-record 17:56.9. Hector Garcia also took ninth with a career-best 18:09.3, and Rodriguez was 15th with a lifetime-best 18:19.7.

UC Irvine was second behind only Pac-12 member UCLA at the Master's University XC Invitational on Sept. 30. Garcia was the individual runner-up, covering the 8K course in 25:04.7. Mireles added his second third-place showing of the year (25:10.0).

On Sept. 16, UCI placed eighth among NCAA Division I teams, and 11th overall, at the UC Riverside Invitational. Garcia was the Anteaters' top runner, completing the 8K in a career-best 24:43.0 (15th).

On Sept. 1, the 'Eaters kicked off the 2017 campaign by going 3-0 in dual-meet scoring at the Pepperdine Invitational. UC Irvine defeated CSUN, Long Beach State and Pepperdine. Garcia won the individual title at 15:41.97.