In the fall of 1983, UC Irvine was one of three teams to make history, competing in the first Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA) Women's Cross Country Championship.
 
Not only was it the first women's competition sponsored by the PCAA (which was renamed the Big West Conference in 1988), and the first women's sport sponsorship by a league west of the Rockies, but it was also the start of an Anteater dynasty.
 
In the inaugural Big West women's cross country season, UCI finished with 18 points to easily defeat UC Santa Barbara (40) and UNLV (78). The 'Eaters had the top three individual finishers, while each of their five point scorers earned all-conference honors. Lisa Gonzales led the way, winning the individual title with a time of 17:49.3. Susan Zika was the runner-up at 17:57.2, while Judy McLaughlin came in third at 18:13.4. Rounding out the trailblazing group were Lorraine Mercado in fifth (18:23.6) and Jennifer Abraham in seventh (18:49.5).
 
The Anteaters continued to turn heads at the NCAA Regionals where they placed third, and advanced to the program's first-ever NCAA Championship meet.
 
"One of the most important things about that team was they all got along and worked well together," said former longtime UCI cross country/track & field head coach Vince O'Boyle. "As the year progressed, they got better, so winning a conference championship was our first goal, and then it was to get through the NCAA Regional meet and compete for an NCAA Championship. Being the first team in school history to do that was a great honor. No one in the region expected UC Irvine to make it to nationals. It started the history of our cross country program; they were the pioneers of it all."
 
O'Boyle, who was inducted into the UCI Athletics Hall of Fame earlier this year, earned the first of his 12 Big West Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year awards in 1983. Gonzales was also named the conference's first Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year.
 
Since 1983, UC Irvine women's cross country has claimed a league-leading 12 team titles. They were conference champions from 1983-87, and ultimately won nine of the first 10 Big West Championships.