Vanguard Invitational
Date: Friday, Sept. 5
Event: 5K
Time: 9:30 a.m. (PDT)
Location: Mason Regional Park - Irvine, Calif.

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's cross country team is staying local for its 2025 season opener as it is set to compete in the Vanguard Invitational on Friday, Sept. 5. The women's 5,000-meter race is scheduled for a 9:30 a.m. start at Mason Regional Park in Irvine.

QUICK HITS
• UCI has 14 returners and five newcomers.
• UC Irvine finished third at the 2024 Big West Cross Country Championships.
• In the spring, the distance crew also combined for 40 points to help the 'Eaters win their first Big West Track & Field team title.
• Last year, UCI was featured in every USTFCCCA West Region Cross Country Poll, rising to as high as No. 11.

"We are trying to replicate what we were able to do as a team on the track," seventh-year 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."
 
LEADING THE PACK
Junior Kaia Schmidt placed among the top-20 at the 2024 Big West Cross Country Championships. Schmidt ran a 6K personal-record 20:46.2 at the conference meet to rank ninth in program history. She was the team's top runner at the Irvine Invitational, where she had a third-place showing, and was the first 'Eater to cross the finish line at the NCAA West Regional. On the track, Schmidt was the Big West runner-up in the steeplechase and took fifth in the 5000m. Senior Makena Castillo was also consistently among UC Irvine cross country's top-three last year. She ran the Anteaters' second-fastest 6K of the season when she clocked a lifetime-best 20:42.6 at the UCR Invitational. Castillo enters the year ranked eighth among UCI's all-time 6K leaders.

"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."

ON THE RISE
Sophomores Cynthia Herrera and Daisy Penney both competed in five meets, including at the Big West Championships and NCAA West Regional, as true freshmen. Herrera closed out the season with a 6K best of 21:06.0, while Penney registered a PR 21:26.2. Senior Nicole Contreras also clocked a lifetime-best 21:19.3 at the Big West Championships. 

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 in 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.

UP NEXT
UC Irvine will be idle for three weeks before making its way to the Inland Empire for the UC Riverside Invitational at UCR Ag/Ops Course on Saturday, Sept. 27.