RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Sophomore Lukas Amare led the UC Irvine men's cross country team with a top-10 individual finish at The Big West Championships Saturday in Riverside.
 
As a team, the Anteaters were sixth in the standings with 146 points.
 
"We improved two spots from last year, but it wasn't exactly the finish we were hoping for," said UCI distance coach Casey Kear. "We faded a little bit in the last half of the race and couldn't quite hold onto the spot we were holding 5,000 meters into it. We're still growing, still learning and getting better. Right now we need to focus on being able to be more consistent. We have had some really good moments this year, but we need to be able to do that consistently."
 
Amare is the first 'Eater to earn all-conference honors with a top-10 showing on the men's side since 2017. He was seventh overall, completing the 8K race at the UCR Ag/Ops Course in a personal-record 23:56.0. Amare remained at No. 3 all-time in school history.
 
Sophomore Joshua Schuld was UCI's next finisher in 22nd with a time of 24:41.9.
 
UC Irvine then had five more sophomores cross the finish line in succession, taking 41st through 45th place. Zeid Hussain led the pack at 25:15.1, and was followed by Juan Sanchez (25:17.1), Cameron Smith (25:18.1), Jacob Bustamante (25:21.7) and Henry McClish (25:23.5). Rounding out the lineup were senior Sebastian Bautista (25:44.2) and sophomore AJ Sager (26:57.6).
 
UC Irvine will be back in action in two weeks, traveling to Seattle, Washington, for the NCAA West Regional on Friday, Nov. 11.


Big West Championships
UCR Ag/Ops Course - Riverside, Calif.
October 29, 2022

Men's 8K - Team Results
1. Cal Poly - 22
2. UC Santa Barbara - 67
3. UC Riverside - 70
4. Cal State Fullerton - 123
5. UC Davis - 130
6. UC Irvine - 146
7. Long Beach State - 171
8. CSUN - 213

Men's 8K - Top 10 Individuals
1. Jake Ritter (Cal Poly), 23:27.4
2. William Fallini-Haas (Cal Poly), 23:41.9
3. Aidan McCarthy (Cal Poly), 23:46.4
4. Ethan Godsey (UCSB), 23:47.1
5. Alexis Garcia (Cal State Fullerton), 23:49.4
6. Anthony Guerra (Cal Poly), 23:53.3
7. Lukas Amare (UCI), 23:56.0
8. Aiden Davis (UCR), 24:02.6
9. Augustus Marshall (UCSB), 24:02.7
10. John Bennett (Cal Poly), 24:02.9