California Irvine Athletics

Results

IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine women's cross country won the season-opening Vanguard Invitational 5K with a perfect team score of 15 points Friday at Mason Regional Park.
 
Sophomore Liana Lee led the way with her first collegiate victory. Lee notched a meet-record 17:43.4 to finish four seconds ahead of classmate Anna Soares (17:47.6), who claimed runner-up honors. Soares saw an 18-second improvement on her top 5K time from a year ago.
 
Sophomore Rachel Moen clocked in at 17:51.1 to place third, while freshman Grace Baxter came in fourth at 17:52.2. Junior Marjourie Lopez rounded out the top-five with a time of 17:54.6.
 
Senior Nicole Contreras (18:33.5) and sophomore Malia Leupold (18:42.4) both registered collegiate PRs to come in 11th and 12th, respectively. Sophomore Breckyn Kornachuk (19:06.8) and freshman Avery Hutchison (19:55.7) also placed among the top-20.
 
This is the second year in a row that UC Irvine won its season opener after taking first at the Irvine Invitational in 2024.
 
The 'Eaters will be back in action at the UC Riverside Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 27.