California Irvine Athletics

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's cross country team is set to kick off the 2025 campaign next Friday. Get to know more about the Anteaters ahead of the season-opening Vanguard Invitational, which will be held at Mason Regional Park in Irvine on September 5.

1. CONTINUING THE MOMENTUM
UC Irvine is looking to pick up where it left off after an impressive 2024-25 season. Last fall, the Anteaters finished third at the Big West Cross Country Championships, coming in behind UC Davis and three-time defending champion Cal Poly. The 'Eaters were featured in every USTFCCCA West Region Poll, rising to as high as No. 11 twice during the season. In the spring, the distance runners were significant contributors to the program's first Big West Women's Track & Field Championship as they combined for 40 of UCI's conference-leading 150.5 points.
 
"We are trying to replicate what we were able to do as a team on the track," UCI distance coach Casey Kear said. "We have a good chunk of returners and probably our best recruiting class quality-wise, so we are looking to improve on where we finished last year."
 
2. BACK FOR MORE
The Anteaters have a strong core group of returners ready to lead the way. Junior Kaia Schmidt had a top-20 finish at the conference championships a year ago. On the track, she was the Big West runner-up in the steeplechase and took fifth in the 5000m. Senior Makena Castillo, senior Nicole Contreras, sophomore Cynthia Herrera, and sophomore Daisy Penney are also back after strong cross country seasons last fall.
 
"Over the past year Kaia has cemented herself as one of the top runners in the Big West at any distance above 800m," Kear said. "Behind her, we have a great mix of seasoned veterans and some sophomores looking to make a big jump."
 
3. NEW FACES
Entering the mix for UC Irvine are four true freshmen and one NCAA Division I transfer. Junior Emma Hadley spent the last two seasons as a member of the cross country and track & field teams at Colorado. She is a local product from Canyon High School (Anaheim), where she was a standout distance runner, earning first-team all-county and All-CIF honors. The four freshmen – Grace Baxter, Natalie Gonzalez, Avery Hutchison, and Kaitlin Kenney – also bring impressive credentials that include individual league titles, top-20 CIF State Championship finishes, and school records.
 
4. STAYING LOCAL
The Anteaters are not hosting a meet this year, but they do kick off the campaign close to home at the Vanguard Invitational, which will be held at Mason Regional Park in Irvine. The meet is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 5, with the women's 5K at 9:30 a.m. UCI will also make the short drive to Riverside for two of its four regular season meets with the UCR Invitational (Sept. 27) and the Highlander Invitational (Oct. 18) both on the slate for the second year in a row.
 
"We're starting local with something really low key for our group to kind of get the season going and get our newcomers' feet wet," Kear said.
 
5. LOOKING AHEAD
In between their two races in Riverside, the 'Eaters will travel to Springfield, Oregon, for the Bill Dellinger Invitational (Oct. 10). The Big West Championships then take place on Friday, Oct. 31, at Queen Kapi'olani Regional Park in Honolulu. The NCAA West Regional follows on Friday, Nov. 14, in Sacramento, with qualifying teams and individuals advancing to the NCAA Championships (Nov. 22) in Columbia, Missouri.