UCI Makes its Way to Sacramento for NCAA West Regional

Friday, November 10

Sacramento, Calif.

TBA

UC Irvine

NCAA West Regional

UCI Makes its Way to Sacramento for NCAA West Regional

November 08, 2023 | Women's Cross Country

Live Results Meet Notes

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's cross country team continues postseason action on Friday, Nov. 10, when it heads to Sacramento for the NCAA West Regional. Seven Anteaters are entered in the women's 6K that is scheduled for a 10 a.m. start at Arcade Creek Cross Country Course at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex.

Competing for the Anteaters are Montgomery Allison, Sameen Andar, Makena Castillo, Malia Gay, Olivia Liuson, Kaia Schmidt and Anna Vogtmann.

QUICK HITS
• UCI finished 14th at last year's NCAA West Regional, marking their best showing since 2008.
• Anna Vogtmann (20:25.1) and Sameen Andar (20:27.3) both placed among the top-65.
• Vogtmann, Andar and Olivia Liuson ran the NCAA West Regional 6K at Haggin Oaks as freshmen in 2021.
• Andar led the Anteaters with a ninth-place finish at the 2023 Big West Championships two weeks ago.
• This year, Andar and Vogtmann both earned their first career Big West Athlete of the Week award.

LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine finished fifth with 110 points at the Big West Championships in Nipomo, California, on Oct. 27. Sameen Andar was an all-conference performer for the second year in a row as she covered the 6K course in 21:03.2 to place ninth overall. Malia Gay added a top-20 showing as she passed 11 runners over the final 1K to come in 19th with a time of 21:45.3. Anna Vogtmann wasn't far behind in 21st at 21:48.9, while Kaia Schmidt crossed the finish line in 21:49.8 (23rd). Montgomery Allison (22:20.0), Makena Castillo (22:30.7) and Olivia Liuson (22:35.6) rounded out UCI's top-seven runners.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Juniors Sameen Andar and Anna Vogtmann, the Anteaters' top-two runners, both earned their first career Big West Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week honors this season. Andar was recognized on Oct. 17 after clocking an individual and team season-best 20:06.3 at the Bronco Invitational. Vogtmann received the weekly award on Sept. 19, following a career-best third-place finish at the UC Riverside Invitational. In what was her first 6K of the year, Vogtmann registered a season-best 20:19.0. Vogtmann (19:52.8) and Andar (19:57.6) are the program's only two athletes to run a sub-20-minute 6K. They established their top times at last year's Big West Championships where they earned all-conference honors. Andar went on to secure her second career All-Big West cross country award with her top-10 showing at the 2023 league meet.

THE ROOK
Freshman Kaia Schmidt has put together an impressive debut season. She established a 6K season-best 21:04.4 at the Bronco Invitational on Oct. 14 and placed among the top-25 at the Big West Championships on Oct. 27. Schmidt had the second-best time among freshmen at the conference meet, coming in just 0.1 seconds behind Cal Poly's Sydney Sundgren, who was named the Big West Freshman of the Year.

40TH ANNIVERSARY
This year was the 40th anniversary of the inaugural Big West Women's Cross Country Championship and the start of an Anteater dynasty. UCI beat out UC Santa Barbara and UNLV for the first of its nine league titles in a 10-year span.

UP NEXT
Qualifying teams and individuals will make their way to Charlottesville, Virginia, for the NCAA Championships on Saturday, Nov. 18.