'Eaters Host Vince O'Boyle Classic This Weekend

Friday, March 28

San Marcos, Calif.

10:00 AM

UC Irvine

Mangrum Invitational

'Eaters Host Vince O'Boyle Classic This Weekend

March 27, 2025 | Men's Track & Field

Live Results Meet Program Meet Schedule Tickets (Saturday)Meet Notes

Vince O'Boyle Classic
Date: Friday-Saturday (March 28-29)
Location: Anteater Stadium - Irvine, Calif.
Meet Info

Mangrum Invitational
Date: Friday, March 28
Location: Cal State San Marcos - San Marcos, Calif.
Meet Info | Live Results

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine men's track & field is set to host the fourth annual Vince O'Boyle Classic, March 28-29, at Anteater Stadium.

The long jump, hammer and javelin are scheduled for Friday with a 12 p.m. start. The remainder of the events will be held on Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. Only Saturday will be ticketed with adults at $11 and youth at $8. Anteater Stadium has a clear bag policy.

UCI will also send a contingent of distance athletes to the Mangrum Invitational in San Marcos on Friday, March 28.

THE LEGEND
Vince O'Boyle spent 32 years at the helm of the Anteater cross country/track & field program. The 20-time Big West Coach of the Year mentored an NCAA individual champion, 27 All-Americans and 23 Big West Athletes of the Year during his tenure. O'Boyle also led the 'Eaters to 12 conference titles in women's cross country and seven in men's cross country. He elevated the women's program to national prominence with four trips to the NCAA Championships where they had three top-10 finishes. O'Boyle has been inducted into the UCI Athletics Hall of Fame and the Mt. SAC Relays Hall of Fame.

LAST TIME OUT
The Anteaters won five of their eight events at the UCR Spring Classic last Saturday. Jacob Hawkins led the way as a double champion in the shot put and discus and finished with a season-best 56.00m (183-8) in the latter event. Logan Peyton cruised to a victory in the javelin where he recorded a season-best 65.16m (213-9). Kenechukwu Okonkwo won the triple jump for the second week in a row, while AJ Taylor was the top finisher in the 400m hurdles.

MAKING THE LEAP
Junior Kenechukwu Okonkwo joined the Anteaters as a mid-year transfer in 2024 and made an immediate impact as a Big West scorer and NCAA West First Round qualifier in the triple jump. In just his second meet at UCI, he cracked the program's all-time top-10 with a lifetime-best of 15.33 meters (50-3.5). In his second meet of the 2025 season, Okonkwo set a new PR with a leap of 15.83 meters (51-11.25) for his first collegiate victory at the Challenge Cup. Okonkwo's mark is third in all of NCAA Division I this season, and moved him past Mike Powell for No. 2 in program history. He is the first 'Eater to surpass 51 feet since Powell in 1984.

WINNING WAYS
Seniors Liam Miksic (Javelin) and Jacob Hawkins (Discus), who were the Big West champions in their respective events last year, have both continued their winning ways to start the 2025 campaign. Miksic is unbeaten in his two javelin competitions this year. He had an impressive series at the Beach Opener on March 7, throwing for over 200 feet on all six of his attempts including a meet and season-best 67.09 meters (220-1). He also took first at the Challenge Cup on March 15. Miksic is a three-time NCAA West First Round qualifier and two-time Big West champion in the javelin. Hawkins led wire-to-wire in his season-opening discus win at the Ben Brown Invitational (March 8). He was also a double champion in the shot put and discus at the UCR Spring Classic.

FRESHMAN SENSATION
Freshman Angel Cordero is undefeated in his first two collegiate 800m races. He kicked off his Anteater career by beating out an 800m field of 45 athletes with a time of 1:52.18 at the Astro AI Distance Classic in Fullerton on March 7. The Chula Vista native continued to impress at the Challenge Cup (March 15) where he clocked a personal-record 1:48.88 for his second event win. His time is third in all of NCAA Division I this season and ranks fifth in program history as he became the first 'Eater to crack the top-10 in the men's 800m since 2017.

HEAD START
Joshua Schuld started his senior season with a statement in the steeplechase at the Beach Opener. Schuld ran a lifetime-best 8:54.14 to win the event by over 29 seconds. His nearly 12-second PR ranks sixth in program history and is fourth among this year's NCAA Division I leaders.

OUT OF THE BLOCKS
Senior Bryce Bushnell and freshman Justin Johnson are both out to a fast start. At the Challenge Cup on March 15, Bushnell crossed the 100m finish line in a season-best 10.54 seconds to move into a tie for third in program history. Johnson was right on his heels at 10.56 seconds to rank seventh among UCI's all-time leaders. Johnson also posted the Anteaters' fifth-fastest 200m at 21.04 in his collegiate debut at the Ben Brown Invitational. In addition, junior AJ Taylor owns the squad's top 110H time of the season at 14.55 seconds, while senior Ashton Fegel leads the way in the 400m (48.25) and 400H (54.80).

AT A GLANCE
The 'Eaters are coming off a 2024 season in which they had four Big West individual champions and six NCAA West First Round qualifiers. UCI welcomes back four student-athletes from that group, including Jacob Hawkins (Discus) and Liam Miksic (Javelin) who broke the school record in their respective events last year. The Anteaters also bring in 10 newcomers with five junior college transfers and five true freshmen.

UP NEXT
UC Irvine makes its way to La Jolla for the Triton Invitational, April 4-5.