Big West Track & Field Championships
Dates: Friday-Saturday, May 11-12
Time: 9 a.m. (PDT)
Location: Matador Track & Field Complex - Northridge, Calif.
TV Coverage: FOX Prime Ticket (Saturday starting at 2 p.m.)
Live Results: finishedresults.com

UC Irvine Meet Notes

The UC Irvine men's track & field team makes its way to Northridge this weekend for the Big West Championships, May 11-12. The conference meet will be held at Matador Track & Field Complex.
 
The Big West Championships get underway Friday morning with the men's hammer throw at 9 a.m. The running events are then set for an afternoon start with the women's steeplechase at 2 p.m. On Saturday, the women's hammer kicks things off at 9 a.m., while the track events, which will be televised live on FOX Prime Ticket, commence with the women's 4x100 relay at 2:08 p.m. The Anteaters have 20 individuals entered in 16 events.
 
UCI AT THE BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS
• Since 1978, UC Irvine student-athletes have produced 91 individual Big West titles and 13 championship relay teams.
• Last year, the 'Eaters won the 800m, 110H and 4x400 relay.
• Paul Resong is the lone returner from the conference champion 4x400 relay squad.
• The Anteaters' two Big West team titles came back-to-back in 1978 and 1979.

QUICK HITS
• Brandon Lucas established personal bests in the 100m (10.60) and 200m (21.08) at the Mondo Team Challenge.
• Both of those marks are among UCI's all-time top-10 as he is sixth in the 100m and seventh in the 200m.
• Asa Allen has two individual victories in the 110H and ranks eighth in program history with a season-best 14.28.
• Freshman Seth Enochs, who won the long jump in his first three meets, is tied for fifth in school history at 24-05.5.
• Omar Valenzuela was just six inches shy of cracking UCI's top-10 in the discus with a PR 169-01 on April 19.
• The Anteaters' 27-man roster features 12 newcomers, including eight freshmen.
• 2016 Olympian & 2012 NCAA champion Charles Jock (800m) has returned to his alma mater as a volunteer assistant.
 
LAST TIME OUT: STEVE SCOTT INVITATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
• Asa Allen was the top collegiate finisher, and overall runner-up, in the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.56.
• Allen added a fifth-place showing in the 200m where he clocked in at a personal-record 21.80.
• For the second-straight meet, Andres Woodruff improved his PR in the 400m hurdles, placing sixth overall (53.85).
• Woodruff, Brandon Lucas, Allen and Michael Hamill combined for a season-best 41.39 in the 4x100 relay (2nd).
• Jon Rodriguez ran a season-best 9:28.64 to place first among collegiate athletes and fourth overall in the steeple.
• Izzak Mireles was seventh out of 40 competitors in the 5000m (14:44.20).
• Hector Garcia (9th) and Ashton Garcia (10th) both had top-10 showings in a 1500m field of 98 runners.
• Seth Enochs notched his sixth-straight top-five finish in the long jump as he came in fourth at 23-10.75.
• Jon Dickinson registered a season-best 49-00.25 in the shot put.
 
LEADING MAN
Junior Brandon Lucas owns UC Irvine's top times of the 2018 campaign in the short sprints. At the Mondo Team Challenge, Lucas won the 200m in a personal-record 21.08, which ranks seventh in school history. He became the first Anteater to register a top-10 mark in the 200m since Dayne Comrie (2008). The transfer from Central Arizona College also established a lifetime-best 10.60 in the 100m, putting him at No. 6 among the program's career leaders.
 
FILLING THE VOID
UC Irvine suffered a big loss with the graduation of three-time All-American and Big West champion Lloyd Sicard, but junior transfer Asa Allen (Merritt College) has made a smooth transition into the Anteaters' leading role in the 110H. In just his second race of the season, Allen ran a 14.28 to win the event and rank eighth in program history. The Oakland, Calif., native is currently second in the Big West and 41st in the NCAA West Region.
 
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Freshman Seth Enochs wasted no time in making a name for himself at the collegiate level as he won the long jump in each of his first three meets. At the season-opening Ben Brown Invitational (March 10), Enochs recorded a winning mark of 23-02.5. The Yucca Valley, Calif., native followed that performance by earning his second-straight individual victory at the UCI Spring Break Collegiate Classic on March 17. He had the top distance in the prelims with a lifetime-best 24-01.75, but that PR was short-lived as he saw an improvement of over three inches in the finals, hitting 24-05.5. It was the first time an Anteater surpassed the 24-foot mark since 1992, and was best jump by an 'Eater in 34 years. He went on to pick up his third-straight title at the UCR Spring Track Classic (24-00.25).
 
TESTING THE WATERS
Sophomore Hector Garcia ran his first collegiate 800m at the UCR Spring Track Classic on March 24 and finished sixth out of 29 competitors with a time of 1:55.01. He ran the half-mile race again at the Big West Challenge and saw an improvement of .11 seconds as he placed fifth overall at 1:54.90. That is the Anteaters' top 800m time of the year. Garcia also set personal records and owns UC Irvine's season bests in the 1500m (3:52.87) and mile (4:16.38). He added a PR of 15:07.84 in the 5000m at the season-opening Ben Brown Invitational. Garcia, who will be competing in the 1500m and 5K this weekend, was an All-Big West performer in cross country during the fall.
 
MAKING STRIDES
Sophomore Andres Woodruff broke the 54-second mark in the 400m hurdles for the first time in his career on April 21. Woodruff notched a personal-record and team-leading 53.98 to place 12th out of 48 at the Beach Invitational. He then topped that performance with a new PR of 53.85 to come in sixth at the Steve Scott Invitational. Woodruff also had a pair of runner-up finishes at the UC Riverside Spring Track Classic (54.11) and the UCI Spring Break Collegiate Classic (54.66), while taking third at the Big West Challenge (54.33).
 
GOING THE DISTANCE
Fifth-year senior Izzak Mireles has been the Anteaters' top distance runner this year as he leads the team in the 3000m (8:38.57), 5000m (14:43.53) and 10000m (31:21.57). His 10K time is a personal record that he established at UCLA's Bob Larsen Distance Carnival. Mireles' success is a culmination of his determination and hard work as he trained on his own his freshman year before earning a spot on the team in 2015. He graduated last June with a bachelor's degree in psychology and social behavior, and is now working toward his master's in urban & regional planning.
 
JUST THROWING IT OUT THERE
Senior Jon Dickinson improved his career best in the hammer throw by six feet, five inches with a toss of 176-02 at the Ben Brown Invitational (March 9), moving him up one spot to No. 9 in school history. Junior Omar Valenzuela also stepped into the spotlight on his home turf, taking second in the discus at the UCI Spring Break Collegiate Classic (168-04). He went on to record a personal-best 169-01 at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate on April 19.
 
UP NEXT
The NCAA West Preliminary Round will be held at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, May 24-26.