UC Irvine Sends Small Contingent to Ben Brown Invitational

Friday, March 8

Fullerton, CA

10:30 AM PT

UC Irvine

Ben Brown Invitational

UC Irvine Sends Small Contingent to Ben Brown Invitational

March 07, 2019 | Men's Track & Field

Ben Brown Invitational
Dates: March 8-9, 2019 (Friday-Saturday)
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Location: Titan Track Complex - Fullerton, Calif.
Live Results // Schedule // Meet Program

Notes (PDF)

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's track & field team is back in action this weekend as it makes the short trek to Fullerton for the Ben Brown Invitational, March 8-9. The Anteaters will be sending a small contingent with four throwers entered in three events.

Freshmen Min Han and Sebastian Liu kick things off in the hammer throw Friday at 10:30 a.m. Senior Omar Valenzuela and redshirt freshman Kyle Tsu will be in action on Saturday with the discus at 2:45 p.m., while Tsu and Han are also set to compete in the shot put (4:45 p.m.).

STORYLINES
• This is the third-straight year UC Irvine will be competing in the Ben Brown Invitational.
• The Anteaters remain in Southern California for all of their regular-season meets.
• The only time UCI travels outside of the region is for NCAA postseason competition.
• The NCAA West Prelims are in Sacramento, while the NCAA Championships will take place in Austin, Texas.
• The 'Eaters have a good mix of experience and youth with 16 returners and 10 newcomers.

LAST TIME OUT
• UC Irvine battled through the rainy weather to post a handful of top-10 showings at the Beach Opener last weekend.
• Kyle Tsu had an impressive Anteater debut, claiming runner-up honors in the shot put (51-00.25).
• Tsu was the top collegiate finisher, coming in behind only China's Jun Li.
• Omar Valenzuela took fifth in the discus at 153-03, while Tsu was seventh (148-05).
• Junior transfer Brennan Doyle placed third in the 200m, crossing the finish line in 22.28 seconds.
• Seniors Asa Allen (22.53) and Paul Resong (22.54) were right on his heels in fifth and sixth, respectively.
• Doyle, Allen and Resong also teamed up with junior Stefon Goudeau to come in second in the 4x400 relay.
• Junior Sam Ayala led five 'Eaters in the 3000m with a personal-record 8:32.69, which was good for third overall.
• Junior Alan Tantiwassadakran came in ninth in the 110m hurdles with a lifetime-best 15.00.

SPRINTS/HURDLES
• UC Irvine returns its top-two hurdlers in Andres Woodruff and 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 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
• 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.
• Kyle Tsu (Marina HS) is in his second year at UCI, but sat out last season with an injury.
• Tsu was the 2017 Sunset League champion in the shot put and went on to place fourth overall at the state meet.
• 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.

UP NEXT
• The 'Eaters will host the UC Irvine Collegiate Classic at Anteater Stadium, March 15-16.