Men's Cross Country Finishes 12th at UCR Invitational

Saturday, September 15

UCR Ag/Ops Course - Riverside, CA

8:05 AM PT

UC Irvine

UC Riverside Invitational

Men's Cross Country Finishes 12th at UCR Invitational

September 15, 2018 | Men's Cross Country

Results (PDF)

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - UC Irvine men's cross country finished 12th among 21 collegiate teams at the UC Riverside Invitational Saturday morning at the UCR Ag/Ops Course.

Junior Hector Garcia led UCI as he placed 22nd in a field of 172 runners. He completed the 8000-meter race in 24:49.4, just six seconds shy of his lifetime best. This is the fourth-straight meet, dating back to last year, that Garcia has been the Anteaters' top finisher.

"Hector definitely improved upon his performance from two weeks ago," UC Irvine distance coach Chris Evans said. "He was much more competitive in the second half of the race. As a team, we need to work on our second to fourth runners. They need to be closer to Hector if we want to finish higher as a team."

Senior Ashton Garcia crossed the finish line second for the 'Eaters at 25:28.4 (57th). Senior Jon Rodriguez also came in 96th (26:02.7).

All three of UC Irvine's true freshmen saw a time improvement from the season opener two weeks ago. Sebastian Bautista, who clocked in at 26:03.2 (98th), paced the trio, while Gabriel Ramirez (26:34.6) and Christian Hernandez (26:40.4) followed suit. Sophomore Kit Carter added a personal-record 26:14.8.

UC Irvine returns to action in two weeks when it heads to Sacramento for the Capital Cross Challenge on Saturday, Sept. 29. The meet will be held at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex, the same site as this year's NCAA West Regional.

38TH ANNUAL UC RIVERSIDE INVITATIONAL
Saturday, Sept. 15
UCR Ag/Ops Course - Riverside, Calif.

Men's 8K Invitational Team Results (21 Teams)
1. Southern Utah - 27
2. Utah Valley - 70
3. Pomona-Pitzer - 150
4. Central Arizona - 171
5. Cal Baptist - 187
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12. UC Irvine - 356

Men's 8K Invitational Individual Results (172 Runners)
1. Kevin Lynch - Utah Valley (23:58.2)
2. Aidan Reed - Southern Utah (24:02.1)
3. Seth Totten - Unattached (24:02.3)
4. Christian Ricketts - Southern Utah (24:04.7)
5. George Espino - Southern Utah (24:09.2)
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22. Hector Garcia (24:49.4)
57. Ashton Garcia (25:28.4)
96. Jon Rodriguez (26:02.7)
98. Sebastian Bautista (26:03.2)
107. Kit Carter (26:14.8)
123. Gabriel Ramirez (26:34.6)
125. Christian Hernandez (26:40.4)
152. Jhamani Long (27:27.3)