at Bryan Clay Invitational
Date: Thursday-Saturday (April 13-15)
Location: Cougar Athletic Stadium - Azusa, Calif.
Live Results | Stream on FloTrack (Subscription Required)

at Pacific Coast Intercollegiate
Date: Thursday, April 13
Location: Jack Rose Track - Long Beach, Calif.
Live Results

at Beach Invitational
Date: Friday-Saturday (April 14-15)
Location: Jack Rose Track - Long Beach, Calif.
Live Results

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine will send student-athletes to three local meets this week. The Anteaters are slated to compete at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa (April 13-15), while also making their way to Long Beach for both the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate (April 13) and the Beach Invitational (April 14-15).
 
TOP-10 MARKS
• At the UCSB Invitational (March 11), the throws squad posted three marks that sit among UCI's all-time top-10.
• Justin Willingham notched a lifetime-best 55-05.5 in the shot put to rank ninth in school history.
• Willingham saw a slight improvement in a first-place finish at the Challenge Cup (April 7) at 55-09.25.
• Julian Sotelo also had the program's sixth-best javelin throw (since 1986) with a personal-record 198-04.
• Quincy Stokes rounded out the trio, unleashing a 14-foot PR of 181-10 in the hammer to come in at No. 7.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine competed in the Challenge Cup last Friday at UC Santa Barbara's Pauley Track & Field Facility. Justin Willingham led the Anteaters as he won the shot put for the second week in a row and third time this season. Willingham took the victory on his sixth and final attempt where he went for a personal-record 55-09.25 to edge out Aiden Pastorian of Long Beach State by just over two inches. Quincy Stokes also registered a lifetime-best 52-10 on his last throw of the competition. Willingham added another PR in the discus where he was third with a toss of 171-09. Julian Sotelo claimed runner-up honors in the javelin with a best of 192-08. He has thrown for over 190 feet in each of his last three meets. On the track, Malcolm Overbaugh, Brandon Burns, Eric Parker and Max Daniels kicked things off with a season-best 41.22 in the 4x100 relay. Joshua Schuld came in second in the 3000m (8:42.56) and was UCI's top performer in the 1500m with a PR 3:53.23. Zeid Hussain was also fourth in a lifetime-best 3:54.05.
 
THROWS
Despite losing the last two Big West shot put champions to graduation, UC Irvine is still a force to be reckoned with in the throws. Junior Justin Willingham has led the squad, placing among the top-eight in each of his nine finishes this season. He owns four individual victories, including a pair of shot put wins in Santa Barbara at the UCSB Invitational (55-05.5) and Challenge Cup (55-09.5). Both marks were PRs at the time with his best of 55-09.5 ranking ninth in school history. Willingham was also a double champion in the shot put and discus at the Vince O'Boyle Classic on April 1. In the javelin, sophomore Liam Miksic picked up a victory in his season debut at Anteater Stadium, while graduate transfer Julian Sotelo produced the program's sixth-best throw since 1986 with a toss of 198-04 at the UCSB Invite. Quincy Stokes also became the first 'Eater to enter the record books in the hammer throw in five years with his 14-foot PR of 181-10 putting him at No. 7. Stokes went on to finish first in the hammer at the VOB Classic.
 
DISTANCE
Redshirt freshman Joshua Schuld owns the team's top marks of the season in the 800m (1:57.81), 1500m (3:53.23) and 3000m (8:42.56). In his collegiate track debut, Schuld won the steeplechase at the Beach Opener with a time of 9:14.94. Sophomore Zeid Hussain has been a consistent performer for the distance squad as well. He has five top-10 finishes, including at UCLA's Bob Larsen Distance Carnival where he was fifth out of 45 in the 5000m with a personal-record 14:29.26. Junior Cameron Smith, who scored in the steeplechase at the Big West Championships a year ago, also ran a season-best 9:13.56 at UCLA.
 
SPRINTS & HURDLES
The 'Eaters have two of the top hurdlers in the conference in junior Drew Pickett and sophomore Jarel Sayles. Pickett was the Big West runner-up in the 110m hurdles and a conference qualifier in the 400m hurdles in 2022. In his second meet of the year, he won the 110H in a season-best 14.49 at the Vince O'Boyle Classic. Pickett ran a personal-record 14.19 last year to rank eighth in school history. Sayles redshirted last season with an injury but took third as a true freshman in a tough 110H field at the 2021 Big West Championships. Sophomore hurdler Maxwell Jefferson is also back and healthy after battling through injuries in his freshman campaign. Senior Malcolm Overbaugh and juniors Eric Parker and Ty Sheridan, have anchored the sprints squad in the 200m and 400m. Overbaugh is a two-time All-Big West performer (200m, 4x400), while Parker was a member of the 4x400 that had a podium finish in 2021. The 'Eaters have also added some youth with incoming freshmen Brandon Burns (100m/200m) and Jake Preston (400m). 
 
JUMPS & MULTIS
Senior Josh Farmer is a two-time All-American in the decathlon, while the Anteaters also brought in sophomore transfer Max Daniels out of Mt. SAC in the multis. Daniels was the 2022 California Community College Athletic Association state champion in the decathlon with a personal-record 6,577 points. In the jumps, freshman Elijah Yoshinaga has led the way with the team's top marks in the long jump (23-01.75) and triple jump (43-10.5). He was a CIF State finalist in both events at Elsinore High School.
  
UP NEXT
UC Irvine is back in action next Thursday, April 20, at The Battle in the OC, hosted by Cal State Fullerton. The meet will be held at Titan Track Complex, which is the site of the 2023 Big West Championships.