UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. - Sophomore Lukas Amare ran a sub 30-minute 10K to lead the UC Irvine men's cross country team Friday at the NCAA West Regional Championships.
 
Amare completed the course at Chambers Creek Regional Park in 29:51.3, which was a nearly two-and-a-half minute personal record. That ties him with two-time All-American Ralph Serna for No. 3 in school history. Amare is the first Anteater to enter the program's all-time top-10 in the 10K since 1987. His 63rd-place showing was also UCI's best at the regional meet since 2013.
 
Amare was one of seven 'Eaters competing at the NCAA West Regional, and all seven established big lifetime bests. Sophomore Joshua Schuld shaved over two minutes off his 10K PR with a time of 30:35.3.
 
Sophomore Jacob Bustamante was next across the finish line for UCI, completing his first cross country 10K in 31:05.6. Sophomore Zeid Hussain was right on his heels, clocking a one-minute personal-best 31:07.8. In addition, sophomore Cameron Smith cracked the 32-minute mark for the first time in his young career, registering a time of 31:32.8.
 
Sophomores Juan Sanchez (32:12.9) and Henry McClish (32:23.3) also saw a one-minute improvement in their 10K times.
 
As a team, UC Irvine was 20th overall. Top-ranked Stanford took home the title and was followed by No. 26 Gonzaga.