Mark Covert Classic
Date: Saturday, Aug. 31
Event: 8K
Time: 8:30 a.m. (PDT)
Location: Carbon Canyon Regional Park - Brea, Calif.
Live Results: FinishedResults.com

Notes - Meet #1

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's cross country team will open the 2019 campaign at the Mark Covert Classic on Saturday, Aug. 31. The 8000-meter race is set to start at 8:30 a.m. at Carbon Canyon Regional Park in Brea.
 
STORYLINES
• This is the second year in a row the Anteaters will start the season with the Mark Covert Classic.
• UCI will be looking to improve on its eighth-place finish from last year.
• Sebastian Bautista, Christian Hernandez and Jhamani Long competed in the 2018 Mark Covert Classic.
• The 'Eaters return four letterwinners, while adding four newcomers.
• The Anteaters officially welcomed distance coach Casey Kear to their cross country/track & field staff on Aug. 14.
• Kear comes to Irvine from Long Beach State where he mentored a Big West Freshman of the Year and two all-conference performers.
 
MEET THE TEAM
>> Senior Sam Ayala is expected to lead the way in 2019 as he is coming off his first career top-20 showing at the Big West Championships. He established lifetime bests in both the 8K (25:10.8) and 10K (31:28.8) despite missing two races with an injury last year.
 
>> Sophomore Sebastian Bautista looks to build on a solid freshman campaign where he saw a time improvement in each of his four regular-season 8K races. Bautista finished with season-bests of 25:53.42 in the 8K and 33:29.9 in the 10K.
 
>> Sophomore Christian Hernandez was also a consistent contributor in the 'Eater lineup, competing at both the Big West Championships and NCAA West Regional last year.
 
>> Senior Jhamani Long saw action in four of the team's six meets in 2018. He posted a season-best 26:49.80 at the Highlander Invitational 8K.
 
>> Sophomore Omar Adel joins the cross country squad this year after competing in the 800m during the 2019 track & field season. He is a local product out of Woodbridge High School where he ran both cross country and track.
 
>> Redshirt freshman Nick Krohn attended UCLA during the 2018-19 academic year, but did not compete on the Bruins' cross country or track teams. He was a 2017 CIF-Southern Section cross country finalist at Valencia High School in Placentia.
 
>> True freshmen Michael McCarthy (Garfield HS) and Jason Messner (Foothill Technology HS) also enter the mix in 2019. McCarthy was a three-time CIF Los Angeles City Section finalist, while Messner advanced to the 2018 CIF State Cross Country Championships and claimed the Tri-Valley League individual title as a junior.

UP NEXT
The Anteaters will make the first of three trips to the Inland Empire on Saturday, Sept. 14, for the UCR Invitational.