Results

IRVINE, Calif. - Junior Hannah Chau established a 4,000-meter school record to lead the UC Irvine women's cross country team to a second-place finish at the Anteater Opener Wednesday evening at the ARC Fields.
 
It was UCI's first country meet since November 2019 and the first home meet since 2015.
 
"It was a really good effort competing against a strong California Baptist team who is ranked among the top-10 in the West Region," UC Irvine distance coach Casey Kear said. "Hannah pushed the pace from the beginning and was able to hold on for third. Our next few finishers were freshmen so it's exciting to have that young core. We're still missing a few pieces but I'm excited to see the whole team at full strength hopefully in a couple weeks."
 
Chau, who led for most of the race, took third overall in a school-record 14:11.0 (4K records dating back to 2012). The next five 'Eaters to cross the finish line were all freshmen. Anna Vogtmann led the pack with an eighth-place showing in her collegiate debut. Vogtmann clocked in at 14:30.0, putting her at No. 4 on UC Irvine's all-time 4K list. Also entering the program's top-10 were Sameen Andar (14:54.1) and Makena Castillo (14:56.9), who placed 15th and 18th, respectively.
 
Olivia Liuson wasn't far behind at 14:58.0 (21st), while Amber Rios came in 24th with a time of 15:10.7. Junior Patricia Sanchez (15:11.7) and sophomore Elizabeth Celada Padilla (15:22.6) also placed among the top-30.
 
Overall, 20 Anteaters competed in the season-opening meet with 15 making their collegiate cross country debuts.
 
UC Irvine will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 18, when it heads to the Inland Empire for the UC Riverside Invitational.