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BREA, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's cross country team ran to an eighth-place finish at the season-opening Mark Covert Classic Saturday at Carbon Canyon Regional Park.
 
The Anteaters' nine-man lineup featured four true freshmen making their collegiate debuts.
 
"I was really impressed with how the freshmen opened up the season," UCI distance coach Chris Evans said. "This was their first 8K, but they came out, followed our plan and raced really well. I think we were a little flat up front; those guys know they can do better. We were also running without Sam Ayala, who would have been in the top-25. If we put him in there, we are a different team and our finish is looking a little different."
 
Junior Hector Garcia picked up right where he left off last season as he was UC Irvine's top runner. Garcia covered the 8000-meter course in 25:14.0 to place 13th in an NCAA Division I field of 138.
 
Senior Jon Rodriguez was next to cross the finish line for the 'Eaters, taking 40th with a time of 25:56.6. Classmate Ashton Garcia wasn't far behind in 52nd (26:03.7).
 
Freshman Sebastian Bautista placed 73rd in his first collegiate race, clocking in at 26:22.1. He was followed by sophomore Kit Carter (26:35.4) and freshman Josh Ma (26:39.9), while freshman Gabriel Ramirez (26:44.2) rounded out the Anteaters' top seven.
 
Also competing for UCI were freshman Christian Hernandez (26:57.1) and senior Jhamani Long (28:06.5).
 
"We are really looking forward to putting the team all together within the next two to four weeks, and seeing what we can do," Evans added. "We want to improve each time we step on the course."

The 'Eaters finished ahead of UC Davis, Arizona State, San Diego and UC Riverside. Cal Poly won the team title.
 
UC Irvine will be back in action at the UC Riverside Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 15.