Beach Opener
Dates: Friday-Saturday, March 1-2
Time: 12 p.m. / 8:20 a.m. (PST)
Location: Jack Rose Track - Long Beach, Calif.
Meet Info // Schedule // Live Results

Notes (PDF)

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's track & field team kicks off the outdoor season this weekend as it travels to Long Beach for the Beach Opener, March 1-2. The two-day meet will be held at Jack Rose Track on the campus of Long Beach State.
 
Competition gets underway with the hammer throw (12 p.m.) and javelin (3 p.m.) on Friday. A full day of events is then slated for Saturday, starting with the 3000m at 8:20 a.m.
 
The Anteaters have 21 student-athletes entered in 11 different events. They will be going up against fellow NCAA Division I members USC, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Bakersfield and host LBSU, along with a handful of DII, DIII and junior college programs.

STORYLINES
• This is the third annual Beach Opener, and marks the first time UC Irvine has entries in the meet.
• The Anteaters will stay in Southern California for the remainder of the regular season.
• The only time UCI travels outside of the region is for NCAA postseason competition.
• The NCAA West Prelims will take place in Sacramento, while the NCAA Championships will be held in Austin, Texas.
• The 'Eaters have a good mix of experience and youth with 16 returners and 10 newcomers.
 
SPRINTS/HURDLES
• UC Irvine returns its top-two hurdlers in junior Andres Woodruff and senior Asa Allen.
• Woodruff scored in the 400m hurdles at the Big West Championships last year, running a PR 53.38 to finish fourth.
• Allen was a 2018 NCAA West Preliminary qualifier and All-Big West performer (3rd) in the 110m hurdles.
• He ran a season-best 14.28 to rank eighth in school history.
• Leading the sprints group will be senior Paul Resong, who was an all-conference performer as part of the 4x400.
• Resong helped the quartet to a third-place finish and a season-best 3:14.57.
• He was also a Big West finalist in the 400m, running a lifetime-best 47.87 in the prelims.
 
THROWS
• Senior Omar Valenzuela is the lone returner in the throws group.
• Valenzuela had a top-eight finish in the discus at the 2018 Big West Championships, and established a PR 169-01.
• Redshirt freshman Kyle Tsu (Marina HS), who sat out last season with an injury, will make his long-awaited debut.
• Tsu was the 2017 Sunset League champion in the shot put and went on to place fourth overall at the state meet.
• Junior college transfer Jack Pickard joins the 'Eaters from Diablo Valley College.
• Pickard, who was a two-time CCCAA state finalist at DVC, is UCI's first javelin specialist since 2016.
• Freshmen Noah Holm, Min Han and Sebastian Liu will also look to make an immediate impact.
 
JUMPS
• Seth Enochs will carry the load in the jumps following a standout freshman campaign in 2018.
• The 6-foot-4 sophomore is tied for fifth in program history with a personal-record 24-05.5 in the long jump.
• He won the event three times last year and had a top-eight showing at the Big West Championships.
 
DISTANCE
• Juniors Sam Ayala and Hector Garcia are expected to lead the distance group.
• Both finished among the top-20 at the Big West Cross Country Championships in the fall.
• Last year, Garcia established personal bests in the 1500m (3:52.87) and 5000m (15:07.84).
• Ayala added a lifetime-best 3:55.93 in the 1500m.
• Seniors Ashton Garcia, Jon Rodriguez and Jhamani Long also return for their final season.
• New to the squad are freshmen Omar Adel, Sebastian Bautista and Christian Hernandez.
 
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Jeff Perkins on the season outlook
"We will rely heavily on the youth movement within our program. We have many athletes who we have been waiting on to show their talents and this outdoor season is the time. The returning group made up of Andres Woodruff, Paul Resong, Seth Enochs and many others will lead the way, but the rookies will be close behind giving us the depth we have been longing for."
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine is back in action next weekend, making the short trip to Fullerton for the Ben Brown Invitational, March 8-9.