RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's cross country team claimed runner-up honors at The Big West Championships Saturday morning in Riverside.
 
The Anteaters were just one point shy of their first conference title since 2005. They ended up placing second with 64 points, coming in behind Cal Poly which held the slight edge with 63 points for the closest finish in Big West history. It was still UCI's best team showing at the conference meet in 14 years.
 
"I'm so proud of the women's group; we ran by far our best race of the year," said UC Irvine distance coach Casey Kear. "We had three in the top-seven, four in the top-11 and had the fastest team time today, but unfortunately the scores came up one point short. I'm really thankful to be in a spot to be contending for a conference championship, that's been our goal since we got here and we took a big step forward today. Again, we ran fantastic races across the board."
 
The 'Eaters had three individuals earn all-conference honors with a top-10 showing. Sophomore Anna Vogtmann led the way in fifth place. Vogtmann shaved two seconds off her school record from two weeks ago as she completed the 6K race at UCR Ag/Ops Course in 19:52.8.
 
Sophomore Sameen Andar also ran her first career sub 20-minute 6K, clocking a lifetime-best 19:57.6 to finish sixth. She moved up to No. 2 in program history.
 
Senior Hannah Chau rounded out the trio in seventh as she established a PR 20:01.0 to rank third on UCI's all-time charts. Chau, who was also an All-Big West performer in 2019 and 2021, is the 10th Anteater on the women's side to earn three all-conference awards in her career.
 
Senior Evelin Meza took 11th in the race and moved up four spots to No. 6 in the UC Irvine record books with a 27-second personal-best 20:28.7.
 
Also in scoring position were sophomores Maggie Sczupak (21:18.6, 36th), Olivia Liuson (21:19.6, 37th) and Malia Gay (21:32.3, 40th). All three established personal records with Sczupak and Gay taking 13 seconds off their previous bests and Liuson seeing a 30-second improvement.
 
UCI 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
 
Women's 6K - Team Results
1. Cal Poly - 63
2. UC Irvine - 64
3. UC Davis - 92
4. Cal State Fullerton - 94
5. UC Santa Barbara - 94
6. Long Beach State - 152
7. UC Riverside - 163
8. Hawai'i - 221
9. CSUN - 253
10. CSU Bakersfield - 307
 
Women's 6K - Top 10 Individuals
1. Brianna Weidler (UC Davis) - 19:28.6
2. Allie Scimia (LBSU) - 19:49.0
3. Julia Heckey (Cal Poly) - 19:50.2
4. Sierra Atkins (UC Davis) - 19:50.3
5. Anna Vogtmann (UCI) - 19:52.8
6. Sameen Andar (UCI) - 19:57.6
7. Hannah Chau (UCI) - 20:01.0
8. McKaylie Caesar (Cal State Fullerton) - 20:05.3
9. Ryley Fick (LBSU) - 20:13.2
10. Collette Lowengrub (UCR) - 20:18.0