Saturday, November 2
Riverside, Calif. / UCR Ag Ops Course
8:30 AM
UC Irvine
at
Big West Championship
UCI Finishes Fourth at Big West Championships
November 02, 2024 | Men's Cross Country
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's cross country team placed fourth at the Big West Championships Saturday morning at UC Riverside's Agricultural Operations Course.
The Anteaters finished with 119 points to come in behind team champion Cal Poly (22), Cal State Fullerton (73) and UC Davis (82). It was their best conference finish since 2016.
"They ran really tough and they ran together," UCI distance coach Casey Kear said about his team's performance. "That's what we talked about before the race, just doing it together no matter where we ended up in the rankings. Collectively, they were really solid and I'm proud of that group, especially with it being the last cross country season for six of them."
Redshirt freshman Juan Chantaca led the 'Eaters for the fourth time this year, coming in 14th overall. Chantaca covered the 8K course in 24:06.3, which was the second-best time among Big West freshmen.
Senior Jacob Bustamante was next across the line for UC Irvine as he had another impressive performance after setting personal bests in each of his last two races. Bustamante clocked in at 24:27.0 for a Big West career-best 22nd-place showing.
Senior Cameron Smith wasn't far behind in 24th (24:33.8), while senior Zeid Hussain was 32nd (24:42.3).
Freshman Omar Reyes was the Anteaters' fifth scorer in 34th. Reyes completed his first Big West Championship race in a personal-record 24:44.9, improving on his previous best by over a minute.
Sophomore Caleb McDaniel (25:15.6) and senior Juan Sanchez (25:16.9) rounded out UCI's top-seven. Senior Joshua Schuld (25:34.4), senior AJ Sager (25:44.2) and sophomore Jimmy Markowicz (25:48.7) also ran for the 'Eaters. Both McDaniel and Sager set personal records.
UC Irvine will be back in action at the NCAA West Regional in Colfax, Washington, on Friday, Nov. 15.
The Anteaters finished with 119 points to come in behind team champion Cal Poly (22), Cal State Fullerton (73) and UC Davis (82). It was their best conference finish since 2016.
"They ran really tough and they ran together," UCI distance coach Casey Kear said about his team's performance. "That's what we talked about before the race, just doing it together no matter where we ended up in the rankings. Collectively, they were really solid and I'm proud of that group, especially with it being the last cross country season for six of them."
Redshirt freshman Juan Chantaca led the 'Eaters for the fourth time this year, coming in 14th overall. Chantaca covered the 8K course in 24:06.3, which was the second-best time among Big West freshmen.
Senior Jacob Bustamante was next across the line for UC Irvine as he had another impressive performance after setting personal bests in each of his last two races. Bustamante clocked in at 24:27.0 for a Big West career-best 22nd-place showing.
Senior Cameron Smith wasn't far behind in 24th (24:33.8), while senior Zeid Hussain was 32nd (24:42.3).
Freshman Omar Reyes was the Anteaters' fifth scorer in 34th. Reyes completed his first Big West Championship race in a personal-record 24:44.9, improving on his previous best by over a minute.
Sophomore Caleb McDaniel (25:15.6) and senior Juan Sanchez (25:16.9) rounded out UCI's top-seven. Senior Joshua Schuld (25:34.4), senior AJ Sager (25:44.2) and sophomore Jimmy Markowicz (25:48.7) also ran for the 'Eaters. Both McDaniel and Sager set personal records.
UC Irvine will be back in action at the NCAA West Regional in Colfax, Washington, on Friday, Nov. 15.
Players Mentioned
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𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝. 𝐋𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝. 𝐋𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩.
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