RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Senior Anna Vogtmann broke her own school record and claimed runner-up honors at the Big West Women's Cross Country Championship Saturday morning at UC Riverside's Agricultural Operations Course.
 
Vogtmann, who has led UC Irvine in all three of her races this season, clocked in at 19:49.3, just under two seconds behind individual champion Schuyler Gooley of Cal Poly (19:47.7). Vogtmann improved her own school record that was set on the same course in 2022 by three seconds. Her second-place conference showing was the Anteaters' best since 2008.
 
"With 600 to go, (Anna) was probably 10 to 12 seconds behind (Gooley)," UCI distance coach Casey Kear said after the race. "But we know if she can just be in the vicinity when it's time to go at the end, she can run with anyone. She closed really hard and had an awesome finish. It was a great way for her to end her Big West cross country career."
 
Vogtmann was one of eight 'Eaters to run a lifetime best on the Big West Championship course. As a team, UCI placed third overall (96 points), behind team champion Cal Poly (33) and UC Davis (70).
 
"Our women's team ran really strong; eight of the 10 had personal bests," Kear added. "They had a solid team effort. There were a couple teams that were just a little better than us today, but it's so much progress from where we were a year ago."
 
Sophomore Kaia Schmidt and senior Maggie Sczupak both established lifetime bests to place among the top-20. Schmidt was 17th in 20:46.2, while Sczupak was 19th in 20:48.2.
 
Senior Malia Gay crossed the finish line in a personal-record 21:04.6 (30th). Freshman Cynthia Herrera was UCI's fifth scorer as she notched the best 6K time of her young collegiate career at 21:06.0 (32nd).
 
Junior Makena Castillo wasn't far behind in 35th (21:08.0). Junior Nicole Contreras rounded out the Anteaters' top-seven with a personal-best 21:19.3.
 
Freshmen Daisy Penney (21:26.2) and Liana Lee (21:33.4) added lifetime bests, while senior Montgomery Allison was just shy of her PR at 21:50.4.
 
UC Irvine will be back in action at the NCAA West Regional in Colfax, Washington, on Friday, Nov. 15.