Bill Dellinger Invitational
Date: Friday, Oct. 11
Event: 6K
Time: 12:00 p.m. (PDT)
Location: The Pine Ridge Golf Club - Springfield, Ore.

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's cross country team will make its way to Springfield, Oregon, for the Bill Dellinger Invitational on Friday, Oct. 11. The 6K race is scheduled for a 12 p.m. start at The Pine Ridge Golf Club.

UCI is one of 15 women's programs entered in Friday's meet. Six of those teams, including the Anteaters, are featured in the USTFCCCA Regional Rankings - No. 3 Utah (Mountain), No. 4 Oregon (West), No. 7 Oregon State (West), No. 11 UC Irvine (West), No. 11 Nebraska (Midwest) and No. 13 Montana State (Mountain). Utah and Oregon are also among the top-15 in the nation, coming in at No. 6 and No. 12, respectively.

Nine 'Eaters will be competing this weekend - Makena Castillo, Nicole Contreras, Malia Gay, Cynthia Herrera, Anna Vogtmann, Jackie Pan, Daisy Penney, Kaia Schmidt and Maggie Sczupak.

QUICK HITS
• Anna Vogtmann owns the top 6K time in The Big West at 19:58.2.
• The Anteaters checked in at No. 11 in the latest USTFCCCA West Region Rankings.
• The 'Eaters have 17 returners, including their top seven from the 2023 Big West and NCAA Regional meets.
• UCI also brings in a large incoming group with 13 newcomers (11 freshmen).

REGIONAL RANKINGS
UC Irvine is 11th in the USTFCCCA West Regional Rankings released on Oct. 7. It is the program's highest ranking in the current regional system that dates back to 2009. The Anteaters have been featured in all four West Region polls this season.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Senior Anna Vogtmann earned her second career Big West Athlete of the Week award following her season debut at the UC Riverside Invitational. Vogtmann placed third out of 223 athletes in the 6K race at the UCR Agricultural Operations Course. She was the top Big West finisher, completing the 2024 conference championship course in 19:58.2. Vogtmann was just under six seconds shy of her personal and school-record 19:52.8 which she set in 2022. 

IN THE TOP-10
Four current Anteaters rank among the top-10 in 6K program history. Anna Vogtmann (19:52.8) and Sameen Andar (19:57.6) own the top-two spots with their personal records that were established at the 2022 Big West Championship. Makena Castillo (20:42.6) and Kaia Schmidt (20:52.6) also entered the mix this year at No. 8 and No. 10, respectively.

LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine won the 5K team title, while placing fourth in the 6K at the UC Riverside Invitational on Sept. 21. Anna Vogtmann led the Anteaters in the 6K, clocking in at 19:58.2 for a third-place showing in her season debut. Makena Castillo was next across the line for the 'Eaters in a personal-record 20:42.6 (30th) and Kaia Schmidt wasn't far behind with a PR 20:52.6. Also setting lifetime bests were Maggie Sczupak (21:03.6), Cynthia Herrera (21:09.9), Malia Gay (21:19.3), Nicole Contreras (21:26.3), Daisy Penney (21:29.0), Jackie Pan (21:30.8) and Liana Lee (21:51.1). In the 5K, Rachel Moen and Montgomery Allison led UCI to a first-place finish. Moen was fifth out of 280 with a time of 17:49.0, while Allison took seventh at 17:53.4.

UP NEXT
UC Irvine will make its way back to Riverside for the Highlander Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 19. That will be the Anteaters' final tune-up before the Big West Championship (Nov. 2), which is also at UCR.