Results

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Sophomore Hannah Chau once again led the UC Irvine women's cross country team with a top-12 individual finish Saturday morning at the UC Riverside Invitational.
 
Chau came in 11th out of 164 overall runners, and was third among Big West opponents, which included defending conference champion Cal Poly, UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach State, UC Riverside and Hawai'i.
 
Chau completed the 6000-meter race at UCR Ag/Ops Course in 20:44.5. She beat her previous personal record, which she set at the same meet last year, by 14 seconds and moved up four spots to No. 4 in program history. It was the fastest 6K by an Anteater since 2008.

As a team, the 'Eaters came in seventh out of 19 with 237 points. They placed ahead of fellow Big West members LBSU, UCR and UH.

"Hannah had a great race and has set the expectation to be competing with the best in the conference in November," said distance coach Casey Kear. "The women's team as a whole had a solid day with a few lifetime bests, and many of the returnees are ahead of where they were at this point last year."
 
In her season debut, senior Mariah Theologidy was UCI's second finisher at 22:09.9 (59th). Senior Anastasia Karnaze was right on her heels in 61st (22:15.4).
 
Sophomore Patricia Sanchez (22:19.3) and freshman Claire Livengood (22:31.5) rounded out the Anteaters' top-five scorers. It was the first career 6000m race for both Sanchez and Livengood.
 
Freshman Elizabeth Celada Padilla also completed her first 6K in 22:36.7, and was followed by senior Brenda Dorantes (22:50.8) and freshman Cammie Martinez (23:45.7).
 
The 'Eaters had four individuals in the 5000m Open race, and all four established season bests. Junior Daisy Garcia paced UCI's 5K contingent at 19:31.6. Coming in behind Garcia were freshman Nikki Fulcomer (19:54.5), junior Fiona De Rego (20:03.3) and freshman Meghan Field (20:09.7).

The team will return to UCR Ag/Ops Course two more times this year for the Highlander Invitational (Oct. 19) and the Big West Championships (Nov. 2).
 
Up next for UC Irvine is The Master's University Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 28.