UC Irvine Returns to Action at NCAA West Regional

Friday, November 9

Haggin Oaks Golf Complex - Sacramento, CA

11:00 AM PT

UC Irvine

NCAA West Regional

UC Irvine Returns to Action at NCAA West Regional

November 07, 2018 | Women's Cross Country

NCAA West Regional
Date: Friday, Nov. 9
Event: 6K
Time: 11 a.m. (PST)
Location: Haggin Oaks Golf Complex - Sacramento, Calif.
Live Results

Notes (PDF)

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's cross country team is back in action this week as it travels to Sacramento for the NCAA West Regional on Friday, Nov. 9. Thirty-eight teams will compete in the 6000-meter race, which is slated for an 11 a.m. start at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex.

The Anteaters' lineup includes Perla Aguilar, Keely Boyd, Hannah Chau, Brenda Dorantes, Natalie Ewe, Anastasia Karnaze, Megan Mirkhanian and Mariah Theologidy.

STORYLINES
• This is UCI's second trip to Sacramento as they ran the Capital Cross 6K at Haggin Oaks on Sept. 29.
• The 'Eaters will be looking to improve on a 32nd-place finish at last year's West Regional in Seattle.
• Freshman Hannah Chau has been UC Irvine's No. 1 runner in four of five meets this year.
• In her first career 6000-meter race on Sept. 15, Chau clocked the eighth-fastest time in school history at 20:59.2.
• Chau was the first individual to enter the program's all-time top-10 in the 6K since 2011.
• Newcomers Mariah Theologidy and Natalie Ewe have also been strong additions to the lineup this year.
• Ewe led the 'Eaters at the Highlander Invitational with a 5K personal-best 17:57.70.
• Theologidy, a junior transfer from Antelope Valley College, has consistently been among UCI's top-five.
• Juniors Anastasia Karnaze and Keely Boyd have paced the returners.
• Karnaze owns the squad's second-best 6K time of the season (21:49.3), while Boyd has set PRs in the 5K and 6K.

DID YOU KNOW?
• UCI won nine of the first 10 Big West Women's Cross Country team titles, including five-straight from 1983-87.
• The Anteaters lead all current and former Big West members with 12 conference championships.
• The 'Eaters have made four NCAA Championship appearances with a high finish of fourth in 1990.

LAST TIME OUT
• UC Irvine placed fifth at the Big West Championships on Saturday, Oct. 27.
• It was their best conference finish since a runner-up showing in 2008.
• Hannah Chau was the first 'Eater to cross the finish line at 22:40.1, which put her 20th out of 77.
• Chau was also third among the league's freshmen.
• Freshman Natalie Ewe was UCI's No. 2 runner, coming in 30th with a time of 23:02.8.
• Juniors Brenda Dorantes and Anastasia Karnaze were 34th (23:14.8) and 35th (23:18.7), respectively.
• Freshman Perla Aguilar was the Anteaters' fifth scorer in 39th, clocking in at 23:23.5.
• Aguilar was 10 seconds ahead of junior Mariah Theologidy in 40th.

QUOTABLES
Distance Coach Chris Evans on the team's Big West performance and future of the program:
"We are very excited about our women's performance at the Big West Championships. To place top-five in the conference is a real achievement for this team, especially after where we were last year. We have a really young team, so we are very excited about what they can do over the next year. Having three freshmen among our five scorers shows great things for the future of this program."

CHAMPIONSHIP PREP
• UC Irvine got an early look at both the Big West Championship and NCAA West Regional courses this year.
• The 'Eaters ran the Carbon Canyon Park course (Big West) at the Mark Covert Classic on Sept. 1.
• They also made their way to Haggin Oaks Golf Complex (NCAA) for the Capital Cross Challenge on Sept. 29.