The Master's University XC Invitational
Date: Saturday, Sept. 28
Event: 8K
Time: 7 a.m. (PDT)
Location: Central Park - Santa Clarita, Calif.

Notes - Meet #3

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's cross country team makes its way to Santa Clarita this weekend for The Master's University Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 28. The men's collegiate 8000-meter race is slated for a 7 a.m. start on a three-loop course at Central Park.
 
STORYLINES
• This will mark the Anteaters' sixth appearance at The Master's University XC Invitational (formerly the Mustang Challenge) in seven years.
• They did not compete in the meet last season.
• Sophomore Sebastian Bautista has been UC Irvine's No. 1 runner in each of the first two races.
• He established an 8K personal-record 25:47.7 at the Mark Covert Classic.
• Sophomore Christian Hernandez, redshirt freshman Nick Krohn and senior Jhamani Long have also consistently been among UCI's top four.
• Senior Sam Ayala, who missed the first two meets of the season, will be out again this weekend with an injury.
• Ayala is the team's top returner after posting his first career top-20 showing at the 2018 Big West Championships 
• He established lifetime bests in both the 8K (25:10.8) and 10K (31:28.8) as a junior.
• 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 got its first preview of the Big West Championship course at the UC Riverside Invitational 8K (Sept. 14).
• Sebastian Bautista was the first to cross the finish line for the Anteaters, coming in at 26:01.0.
• Bautista was followed by Christian Hernandez (26:35.9) and Jhamani Long (27:11.5), who both had season bests.
• Freshman Michael McCarthy made his collegiate debut, running 27:54.5 in his first career 8K race.
 
COACH'S CORNER
"The men were running on some very tired legs at Riverside, but all of the returnees were ahead of their time from the same meet last year. With the training load I have put on them, I expect to return in November and run the same course with dramatically faster times." - UCI Distance Coach Casey Kear
 
UP NEXT
• UC Irvine returns to Riverside for the Highlander Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 19.
• It will be the team's final tune-up before the Big West Championships (Nov. 2).