Big West Championships
Date: Saturday, Nov. 2
Event: 8K
Time: 9:30 a.m. (PDT)
Location: UCR Ag/Ops Course - Riverside, Calif.
Live Results: FinishedResults.com

Notes - Meet #5

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's cross country team returns to Riverside this weekend for the Big West Championships at the UCR Ag/Ops Course on Saturday, Nov. 2. The men's 8K is slated for a 9:30 a.m. start. Omar Adel, Sebastian Bautista, Christian Hernandez, Jhamani Long, Michael McCarthy and Jason Messner will be competing for the Anteaters.
 
QUICK HITS
• This will be the third time this season that UC Irvine is running the 8K at UCR Ag/Ops Course.
• Sophomore Sebastian Bautista was UCI's No. 1 runner in each of the team's four regular-season meets.
• He established an 8K personal-record 25:39.43 at the Highlander Invitational two weeks ago.
• Sophomore Christian Hernandez has consistently been the Anteaters' No. 2 finisher with a season-best 26:09.18 at the Highlander Invite.
• Senior Sam Ayala, who was the team's top returner, will be redshirting this season.
• UC Irvine's eight-man roster includes four returnees and four newcomers.
• The 'Eaters officially welcomed distance coach Casey Kear to their cross country/track & field staff in August.
• Kear comes to Irvine from Long Beach State where he mentored a Big West Freshman of the Year.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• UC Irvine combined for five personal records at the Highlander Invitational in Riverside on Oct. 19.
• Sebastian Bautista continued to lead the Anteater pack, placing 57th out of 234 overall competitors.
• Bautista covered the 8000-meter course in a lifetime-best 25:39.43.
• Christian Hernandez came in 81st with a season-best 26:09.18.
• Senior Jhamani Long saw an eight-second improvement on his PR from the same meet a year ago, clocking in at 26:41.85.
• Freshmen Michael McCarthy (27:07.14) and Jason Messner (28:33.66), and sophomore Omar Adel (28:52.45) added personal bests.
 
COACH'S CORNER
"We are looking to build off our performances at the Highlander Invitational where we had five of our six athletes establish personal bests. We want to finish the season with six more personal bests to really get some momentum going into the track season this spring." - UCI Distance Coach Casey Kear
 
UP NEXT
• UC Irvine will be back in action at the NCAA West Regional in Colfax, Washington, on Friday, Nov. 15.