NIPOMO, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's cross country team finished fifth at the season-opening Big West Preview Friday morning in Nipomo, California.
 
The meet was held at Blacklake Golf Course, which will also be the site of the 2023 Big West Championships in October.
 
"Today's race was a valuable experience for us," said UCI distance coach Casey Kear. "We got a good look at the conference championship course and a good portion of our Big West competition. It also gave us a great chance to integrate some new team members and see where we stand. We are in a good place to start the year but know we will be ready to run even better here on October 27."
 
The Anteaters, who are ranked 14th in the West Region, had two individuals in the top-20. Junior Anna Vogtmann led the way, completing the 5K course in 18:15.9 to place 12th in a field of 104 athletes.
 
Freshman Kaia Schmidt was next across the line for the 'Eaters as she took 18th in her collegiate debut. Schmidt clocked in at 18:26.6.
 
Junior Malia Gay (18:41.5) and sophomore Makena Castillo (18:51.3) were 26th and 28th, respectively, while junior Montgomery Allison was 35th (19:01.4).
 
Juniors Olivia Liuson (19:10.8) and Tea Akiaten (19:35.0) rounded out UCI's top-seven runners.
 
Also competing in the opener were freshman Rebecca Bronstein (19:37.6), sophomore Stella Knobbe (20:00.2) and junior Laura Yontz (20:13.9).

Host Cal Poly won the team title and UC Riverside's Linda Perez was the individual champion.
 
The Anteaters will have a week off from competition before heading to the Inland Empire for the UC Riverside Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 16.