Big West Championships
Dates: Friday-Saturday (May 12-13)
Location: Titan Track Complex - Fullerton, Calif.
Championship Central

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine makes its way to Cal State Fullerton's Titan Track Complex this weekend for the Big West Championships, May 12-13. The field events will get underway at 10 a.m. on both days, while action on the track is set for a 2:20 p.m. start on Friday and a 1 p.m. start on Saturday. Nineteen Anteaters are entered in 15 events. The meet will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Bryan Fenley and Tom Feuer on the call.
 
IN THE TOP-10
• On April 20, Malcolm Overbaugh ran his first collegiate 100m, clocking in at 10.60 seconds to tie for sixth all-time.
• Drew Pickett established a lifetime-best 14.13 in the 110H, which puts him seventh among the program leaders.
• Cameron Smith ran a nearly 12-second PR of 8:58.24 in the 3000m steeplechase at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
• Smith is the ninth 'Eater to run a sub-nine-minute race and ranks eighth in school history.
• The throws squad has registered three top-10 marks in 2023.
• At the Battle in the OC, Quincy Stokes unleashed a PR 187-06 to move up to No. 6 in the hammer.
• Justin Willingham also jumped to No. 7 in the shot put with a personal-record 56-06.75 at the same meet.
• Julian Sotelo had the program's sixth-best javelin throw (since 1986) with a personal-record 198-04 on March 11.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine was last in action, April 28-29, when it hosted the Steve Scott Invitational. Liam Miksic earned his second javelin victory of the season, surpassing the 60-meter mark on three of his six attempts and finishing with a best of 62.32 (204-5). Miksic has won the javelin in three of his four career meets at Anteater Stadium. Justin Willingham added a pair of top-five showings, placing fourth in the discus with a personal-record 52.97m (173-9) and third in the shot put at 16.61m (54-6). On the track, Joshua Schuld (14:36.60) and Cameron Smith (14:49.78) both clocked lifetime-bests in the 5000m. Malcolm Overbaugh, Eric Parker, Max Daniels and Ty Sheridan combined for a season-best 3:14.12 in the 4x400 relay. Overbaugh was also fifth out of 51 in the 200m with a time of 21.49 seconds.
 
BIG WEST REWIND
At the 2022 Big West Championships, UCI came in fifth overall, which was their best finish since 2008. Three Anteaters combined for four all-conference honors with a top-three showing in their respective events. Back from that group are Drew Pickett, who was the runner-up in the 110m hurdles, and Liam Miksic, who was third in the javelin as a true freshman. Cameron Smith is also back in the steeple after placing fifth a year ago.
 
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 with five individual victories on the year. Willingham was a double champion in the shot put and discus at the Vince O'Boyle Classic on April 1. He also won the shot put at the Battle in the OC (56-06.75), Challenge Cup (55-09.25) and UCSB Invitational (55-05.5). All three marks were PRs at the time with his best of 56-06.75 ranking seventh in school history. In the javelin, sophomore Liam Miksic picked up two event wins at Anteater Stadium at the VOB Classic and Steve Scott Invitational, and notched a season-best 205-09 at the Beach Invitational to rank third in the Big West. Miksic was an all-conference performer last year and is second in program history with a lifetime-best 215-11. Graduate transfer Julian Sotelo also produced the program's sixth-best throw since 1986 with a toss of 198-04 at the UCSB Invite, while Quincy Stokes is the first 'Eater to enter the record books in the hammer throw in five years with his PR of 187-06 putting him at No. 7.
 
SPRINTS & HURDLES
UC Irvine's top two hurdlers are back on the same track where they set personal records earlier this season. Junior Drew Pickett clocked a 110H PR 14.13 and sophomore Jarel Sayles ran 14.39 at the Battle in the OC at Titan Track Complex on April 20. Pickett was the 2022 Big West runner-up, while he also won the event at the Vince O'Boyle Classic on April 1. Sayles, who redshirted last season with an injury, also took third in the 110H as a true freshman in 2021. In the sprints, senior Malcolm Overbaugh, a two-time all-conference performer, owns the team's top times of the season in the 100m (10.60), 200m (21.44) and 400m (48.42). His 10.60 in the 100m is tied for sixth in program history.
 
DISTANCE
The Anteater distance crew had an impressive outing at the Bryan Clay Invitational, April 13-15. Junior Cameron Smith, who scored in the steeplechase at the Big West Championships a year ago, led the way with his first career sub-nine-minute race. Smith clocked in at 8:58.24 to rank eighth in program history. Sophomore Jacob Bustamante added a 5000m personal-record 14:28.84, while three 'Eaters notched lifetime bests in the 1500m. Zeid Hussain had a top-20 showing among 197 athletes in the Open B section with a time of 3:51.00. Joshua Schuld also crossed the finish line in 3:51.13, and Smith came in at 3:56.53.
 
JUMPS & MULTIS
UCI has two newcomers leading the way in the multis and jumps. Max Daniels, a sophomore transfer out of Mt. SAC, was the 2022 California Community College Athletic Association state champion in the decathlon with a personal-record 6,577 points. He was unable to complete the Big West multis last weekend due to injury. Freshman Elijah Yoshinaga owns the team's top marks in the long jump (23-01.75) and triple jump (43-10.5) this season. He was a CIF State finalist in both events at Elsinore High School.
  
UP NEXT
The top-48 declared athletes in each individual and relay event will compete in the NCAA West Preliminary Championships in Sacramento, May 24-27.