'Eaters Head to Riverside and San Diego for Two Meets

Thursday, March 21

Riverside, Calif.

11:00 AM

UC Irvine

UCR Multis

'Eaters Head to Riverside and San Diego for Two Meets

March 20, 2024 | Men's Track & Field

Live Results Meet Notes

at UCR Spring Classic Multis
Date: Thursday-Friday, March 21-22
Location: UC Riverside Track & Field Facility - Riverside, Calif.
Meet Schedule

at Aztec Invitational
Date: Friday-Saturday, March 22-23
Location: Choc Sportsman/Aztrack on the SDSU Sports Deck - San Diego, Calif.
Meet Schedule

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's track & field team is set to compete in two meets this week, starting with the UCR Spring Classic Multis, March 21-22. The decathlon starts at 11 a.m. on both Thursday and Friday at UC Riverside. The rest of the Anteaters make their way to San Diego for the Aztec Invitational, March 22-23. The hammer and distance events (5 p.m.) will be contested on Friday, while a full day of action gets underway at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

QUICK HITS
• The Aztec Invitational includes 18 NCAA Division I and II teams as well as unattached and professional athletes.
• Jacob Hawkins was named The Big West Men's Field Athlete of the Week on March 19.
• Hawkins won the shot put and discus, and broke a 41-year-old school record in the latter event at the Challenge Cup.
• Justin Willingham also took down a nine-year-old school record in the shot put at the Ben Brown Invite.
• Liam Miksic, the reigning Big West champion in the javelin, established a PR 65.85 (216-0) at the Beach Opener.
• Miksic is a two-time all-conference performer and NCAA Regional qualifier.
• Josh Farmer is a two-time All-American in the decathlon and is back for his senior season after redshirting in 2023.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Over the last two meets, junior Jacob Hawkins and senior Justin Willingham took down school records in the discus and shot put, respectively. Last Friday at the Challenge Cup, Hawkins broke UCI's long-standing record in the discus with a personal-best 59.03 meters (193-8). He topped the previous standard of 58.44m, which was set by Ken Mills back in 1983. At the Ben Brown Invitational (March 9), Willingham broke a nine-year-old school record in the shot put. He had an impressive series, leading wire-to-wire in the individual victory. After opening the competition with a then personal-best 17.77m (58-3.75), he saw an improvement on his third (17.93m) and fourth (18.23) attempts. On his sixth and final throw, Willingham unleashed a toss of 18.62m (61-1.25). He is just the second Anteater to surpass 60 feet, beating out Mason Miller's mark of 18.44m (60-6) from 2015. Willingham is also seventh in program history in the discus (54.68m), while Hawkins is fifth in the shot put (17.83m).

MORE FROM THE THROWS
At the Beach Opener on March 1, junior Liam Miksic, who won the Anteaters' first Big West men's javelin title last year, improved on his No. 2 mark in program history with a PR 65.85m (216-0). Junior transfer Logan Peyton also threw for 63.40m (208-0), which ranks third among UC Irvine's all-time leaders.

BACK FOR MORE
Senior Josh Farmer is back from a redshirt season to lead the Anteaters in the decathlon. Farmer qualified for the NCAA Championships where he earned second-team All-America honors in 2021 and 2022. He is joined by junior Max Daniels, who was the 2022 California Community College Athletic Association state champion in the decathlon at Mt. SAC. Last year, Daniels was hampered by injury but still set PRs in four events during the regular season.

GOING THE DISTANCE
The Anteaters have a seasoned distance crew, returning all four conference scorers from a year ago. Junior Jacob Bustamante had a fourth-place finish in the 10K, while senior Cameron Smith placed among the top-eight in the steeplechase and 5K. Junior Joshua Schuld was also fifth in the steeple and junior Zeid Hussain was seventh in the 10K. In addition, UCI welcomes back junior Lukas Amare, who redshirted the 2023 campaign. Entering the mix are freshmen Juan Chantaca and Jimmy Markowicz.

OUT OF THE BLOCKS
Senior Drew Pickett and junior Jarel Sayles lead the hurdles group. Both have earned All-Big West honors (110H) in their careers. The 'Eaters also bring in freshman Roman Mendoza, who was the 2023 CIF-Southern Section champion in the 110H at Santa Margarita Catholic High School. A pair of newcomers have paced the Anteaters in the short sprints as freshman Alex Skalmowski owns a season-best 10.73 in the 100m, and junior transfer Bryce Bushnell ran the team's fastest 200m of the year at 21.60.

FRESH FACES
The jumps crew is comprised mostly of newcomers including transfers Anthony Victa and Garren Haynes. Victa is a graduate transfer from UC Santa Barbara where he was a two-time Big West scorer in the triple jump. Haynes comes to UCI from Mt. SAC which won back-to-back CCCAA state titles. Haynes scored in both the long jump and triple jump at the 2023 state championships.

AT A GLANCE
The 'Eaters return 16 letterwinners from last year's team that finished sixth at the Big West Championships. UCI also welcomes back three key members of the squad who redshirted the 2023 campaign and brings in 12 newcomers to bolster its roster.

UP NEXT
UC Irvine will host the Vince O'Boyle Track & Field Classic at Anteater Stadium, March 29-30.