Big West Championships
Date: Friday, Oct. 31
Event: 6K
Time: 8:30 a.m. HT / 11:30 a.m. PT
Location: Queen Kapi'olani Regional Park - Honolulu, O'ahu

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine women's cross country makes the trek to Honolulu for the 2025 Big West Championships on Friday, Oct. 31. The women's 6K race is scheduled for an 8:30 a.m. HT/11:30 a.m. PT start at Queen Kapi'olani Regional Park.

STARTING LINE
• UC Irvine is 14th in the latest USTFCCCA West Region Rankings.
• UCI had back-to-back top-three finishes to start the season.
• The Anteaters won the Vanguard Invitational on Sept. 5.
• They then took third out of 22 teams at the UC Riverside Invitational on Sept. 27.
• Kaia Schmidt (20:38.4) and Emma Hadley (20:47.6) both ran top-10 6K times in program history at Riverside.

ON THE RISE
UC Irvine has placed among the top-three in two of the last three Big West Women's Cross Country Championships. Last year, the Anteaters took third, while they claimed runner-up honors in 2022 when they finished one point behind Cal Poly. This past spring, UCI's distance crew combined for 40 points to help the 'Eaters win the program's first Big West Women's Track & Field Championship.

REGIONAL RANKINGS
UC Irvine entered the USTFCCCA West Region Rankings at No. 15 on Sept. 29, and moved up one spot to No. 14 on Oct. 6. The Anteaters, who are one of three Big West schools among the top-15 in the West, held steady at 14th in the latest poll released on Oct. 22.

DOUBLING DOWN
Junior Kaia Schmidt took home a pair of Big West Athlete of the Week awards this season. On Oct. 14, Schmidt was recognized following a top-15 showing in a competitive Bill Dellinger Invitational field that featured seven regionally-ranked teams. For the second meet in a row, the West Linn, Oregon, native was the top Big West finisher, coming in 14th overall. She completed the 6K course at Pine Ridge Golf Club in 20:43.97. On Sept. 30, Schmidt earned her first career weekly honor after running a nearly eight-second 6K personal-record 20:38.4 to finish seventh out of 220 athletes at the UC Riverside Invitational. Her mark ranked second in The Big West at the time and moved her up one spot to No. 8 in program history.

LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine sent six student-athletes to the Highlander Invitational in Riverside on Saturday, Oct. 18. Senior Nicole Contreras led the group with an 18-second personal-record 20:53.2 to place 12th out of 258 runners. It was UCI's third-fastest 6K of the season. Sophomore Arden Keeton was next across the line for the Anteaters in 58th (21:44.3). Junior Malia Leupold added a personal-best 22:29.1, while freshman Avery Hutchison completed her first career 6K in 22:56.5. Sophomore Breckyn Kornachuk also notched a lifetime-best 23:02.0.

PERFECT START
The Anteaters opened the season with a clean sweep at the Vanguard Invitational 5K on Sept. 5. They took the top-five spots for a perfect score of 15 points. Liana Lee was the individual champion, notching a meet-record 17:43.4 for her first collegiate victory. Lee came in four seconds ahead of Anna Soares (17:47.6), while Rachel Moen (17:51.1), Grace Baxter (17:52.2) and Marjourie Lopez (17:54.6) rounded out the top-five.

UP NEXT
UCI will make its way to Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento for the NCAA West Regional on Friday, Nov. 14.