Results

BREA, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's cross country team placed fifth at the Big West Championships Saturday at Carbon Canyon Regional Park. It was their best conference finish since 2008.
 
The Anteaters' young core anchored the effort with three freshmen finding themselves among the squad's five scorers. They totaled 147 points, to come in ahead of UC Riverside (187), Long Beach State (207), CSUN (238) and Hawai'i (268). Cal Poly (33) edged Cal State Fullerton (39) by six points for the team title.
 
"We are very excited about our women's performance today," UCI distance coach Chris Evans said. "To place top-five in the conference is a real achievement for this team, especially after where we were last year, and this was actually our best finish over the past 10 years.
 
"We have a really young team; we will bring all seven back, so we are very excited about what these young women can do over the next year. What really impressed me today was that they went out and didn't just settle for fifth place, they tried to break into that top four. It might have been a little too fast for them early, but they still competed and went after it. We had three freshmen in the top-five which shows great things for the future of this program."
 
Freshman Hannah Chau led the 'Eaters for the fourth time this season. She completed the 6000-meter course in 22:40.1 to place 20th overall, and third among the league's freshmen.
 
Freshman Natalie Ewe was 30th at 23:02.8, while junior Brenda Dorantes clocked in at 23:14.8 (34th). Junior Anastasia Karnaze wasn't far behind as she made a late push to take 35th with a time of 23:18.7.
 
Freshman Perla Aguilar was UC Irvine's fifth scorer in 39th (23:23.5) as she came in 10 seconds ahead of junior Mariah Theologidy in 40th.
 
Junior Keely Boyd (23:52.7) and senior Megan Mirkhanian (24:30.0) rounded out UCI's lineup.
 
Cal Poly's Miranda Daschian claimed the individual title in 21:23.1.
 
The Anteaters now have two weeks to prepare for the NCAA West Regional, which will be held at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento on Friday, Nov. 9.


Big West Championships
Saturday, Oct. 27
Carbon Canyon Regional Park - Brea, Calif.

Women's 6K Team Standings
1. Cal Poly - 33
2. Cal State Fullerton - 39
3. UC Davis - 74
4. UC Santa Barbara - 82
5. UC Irvine - 147
6. UC Riverside - 187
7. Long Beach State - 207
8. CSUN - 238
9. Hawai'i - 268

UC Irvine's Individual 6K Results (Out of 78)
20. Hannah Chau (22:40.1)
30. Natalie Ewe (23:02.8)
34. Brenda Dorantes (23:14.8)
35. Anastasia Karnaze (23:18.7)
39. Perla Aguilar (23:23.5)
40. Mariah Theologidy (23:33.5)
51. Keely Boyd (23:52.7)
64. Megan Mirkhanian (24:30.0)