IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's cross country team will head to Nipomo, California, for the 2023 Big West Championships this Friday, Oct. 27. The men's 8K race is scheduled for an 8:30 a.m. start at Blacklake Golf Resort.

Competing for the Anteaters are Lukas Amare, Jacob Bustamante, Zeid Hussain, Jimmy Markowicz, Caleb McDaniel, AJ Sager, Juan Sanchez, Joshua Schuld and Cameron Smith.

QUICK HITS
• UCI will be looking to improve on last year's sixth-place Big West finish.
• The Big West has three teams in the latest USTFCCCA regional rankings.
• Defending champion Cal Poly is seventh, UCR is 12th and UCSB is 13th.
• The Anteaters got a sneak peek at Blacklake Golf Resort on Sept. 1.
• They ran a 6K on the championship course at the Big West Preview.
• Lukas Amare, who finished seventh at the 2022 Big West meet, has the team's top 8K time of the season at 24:09.5.

LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine was last in action two weeks ago at the Bronco Invitational (Oct. 14). Lukas Amare, who has been the Anteaters' No. 1 runner in all three races this season, covered the 8K course at Baylands Park in 24:15.2 to place 28th out of 150 finishers. Zeid Hussain wasn't far behind, clocking a season-best 24:20.9 to come in 33rd. Cameron Smith (47th) was next across the line in 24:35.0, while classmates Juan Sanchez (24:47.6) and Jacob Bustamante (24:54.6) were 61st and 69th, respectively. Sanchez's time was an 8K personal record and Bustamante's was a season best. Jimmy Markowicz (25:10.6) and AJ Sager (25:33.7) added lifetime bests.

BIG WEST ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Junior Lukas Amare was named the Big West Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Week on Sept. 19. He was recognized for his performance at the UC Riverside 8K Invitational where he placed 16th overall, 12th among collegiate athletes and was the top Big West finisher with a time of 24:09.5. It was his second-straight top-20 showing and sixth of his career. Last fall, the Diamond Bar, California, native earned All-Big West honors with a seventh-place finish at the conference championships where he clocked a personal-record 23:56.0 to rank third in program history. He continued to run at an elite level at the 2022 NCAA West Regional where he shattered his 10K PR at 29:51.3. That mark is tied for third among UCI's all-time leaders, making him the first 'Eater to enter the program's top-10 at that distance since 1987. 

TOP-10 DEBUT
Junior Cameron Smith joined three of his teammates on UCI's 8K all-time list with a personal-record 24:16.2 at the UC Riverside Invitational. Smith's time ranks seventh in program history. Last year, junior Zeid Hussain tied a school record at 23:47.0, while Amare made his way up to No. 3 at the 2022 Big West Championships and junior Joshua Schuld came in at No. 6 with a PR 24:15.0 at the 2022 UCR Invite.

THE ROOKIES
UC Irvine has two freshmen who will be making their Big West debuts on Friday. Jimmy Markowicz is coming off an 8K personal-best 25:10.6 at the Bronco Invitational. Markowicz prepped at St. Augustine High School in San Diego where he was the 2022 Eastern League cross country champion and won three league titles in the 1600m on the track. Caleb McDaniel was also Mission Viejo High School's Distance Athlete of the Year after finishing second at the Sea View League Finals and advancing to the CIF State Cross Country Championships.

UP NEXT
The NCAA West Regional is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 10, at Haggin Oaks Golf Course in Sacramento.