Big West Championships
Date: Friday, Oct. 29
Event: 6K
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: Wildhorse Golf Club - Davis, Calif.
Live Results: redcaptiming.com

Notes (PDF)

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's cross country team will make its way to Northern California for the Big West Championships on Friday, Oct. 29. The 6,000-meter race is slated for a 10 a.m. start at Wildhorse Golf Club in Davis.
 
"We're excited to get back to the Big West Cross Country Championships," said distance coach Casey Kear. "This is a meet we've been waiting to get back to for two years. Having lost that opportunity last fall, the group is hungry and ready to get out there and compete against the best schools in the Big West."
 
Running for the Anteaters are Sameen Andar, Makena Castillo, Hannah Chau, Olivia Liuson, McKenna Paulson, Amber Rios, Cathy Salazar-Gasca, Patricia Sanchez and Anna Vogtmann.
 
QUICK HITS
• Five of UC Irvine's nine student-athletes entered in the conference championships are true freshmen.
• Junior Hannah Chau, an All-Big West performer in 2019, is expected to contend for the individual title.
• In her three races this season, Chau has a runner-up finish and two third-place performances.
• She established UCI's 4K record (14:11.0) and second-fastest 6K (20:21.5) earlier in the year.
• Freshman Anna Vogtmann also has a pair of top-10 showings in three collegiate meets.
• Vogtmann has already entered the school record books, ranking fourth in the 4K and sixth in the 6K.
• The Anteaters have a young team with 24 underclassmen and only three upperclassmen.
• Among those underclassmen are eight true freshmen, and 10 freshmen returning from the canceled 2020 season.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine claimed the team title last Friday at the Titan Invitational. Evelin Meza led four Anteaters in the top-10, completing the 5,000-meter course in 17:58.1 to take third overall. Claire Livengood (18:17.1) and Elizabeth Celada Padilla (18:29.8) were also sixth and ninth, respectively. Hana Nip rounded out the quartet in 10th (18:31.1).

The nine 'Eaters who will be competing at the Big West Championships were last in action at the Highlander Invitational on Oct. 16. Hannah Chau and Anna Vogtmann both had top-10 individual performances to lead UC Irvine to a runner-up team showing. Chau secured her third-straight top-three finish, completing the 6,000-meter course in a personal-record 20:16.9 (3rd). She improved her No. 2 time in program history by nearly five seconds. Vogtmann clocked in with a lifetime-best 20:52.0 to place seventh overall and move up to No. 6 on UCI's all-time charts.
 
BIG WEST ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
UC Irvine claimed two Big West Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week awards in 2021. Hannah Chau was the first Anteater to be recognized in seven years when she earned the distinction on Sept. 21, following a runner-up performance at the UC Riverside Invitational (Sept. 18). Two weeks after establishing a 4,000-meter school record, the Fairfield, California, native ran the second-fastest 6K in program history at 20:21.5. She improved her then personal best by 23 seconds to move up to No. 2 on the all-time list. Evelin Meza also received the weekly accolade on Oct. 26, after leading UCI to the team title at the Titan Invitational (Oct. 22). Meza was third overall, and the top NCAA Division I finisher, with a 5K personal-record 17:58.1.
 
MAKING AN IMPACT
Freshmen Anna Vogtmann, Sameen Andar and Makena Castillo have been among the Anteaters' top-seven finishers in each of their three collegiate meets. Vogtmann has two top-10 performances, coming in eighth at the Anteater Opener and seventh at the Highlander Invitational. She already ranks fourth in school history in the 4K (14:30.0) and sixth in the 6K (20:52.0). Andar (8th) and Castillo (10th) also etched their names on UCI's 4K all-time charts.
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine will travel to Sacramento for the NCAA West Regional on Friday, Nov. 12.