Vince O'Boyle Track & Field Classic
Date: Friday-Saturday (March 27-28)
Location: Anteater Stadium - Irvine, Calif.
Meet Info

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine women's track & field makes its home debut this weekend, hosting the Vince O'Boyle Classic, March 27-28. The long jump, hammer, javelin, and high jump will be contested on Friday, while the rest of the field events and all the track events are scheduled for Saturday. 

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 is a UCI Athletics and Mt. SAC Relays Hall of Fame inductee.

LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine broke the 4x400 school record to highlight a strong showing at the Ben Brown Invitational two weeks ago. Aoife Hernon, Catalina Teran, Esmeray Demirbas, and Mikah Longcob closed out the meet on a high note as they won the relay in a program-best 3:40.83, taking down last year's record of 3:41.03. Hernon also clocked a 400m lifetime-best 54.40 to rank second among UCI's all-time leaders. Samantha Bartz (11.60) and Teran (11.64) both registered personal bests in the 100m. Bartz's time moved her up to No. 3 in school history, while Teran sits at No. 5. DeAna Davis was the runner-up in the hammer, improving on her No. 2 mark in program history with a personal-record 57.66 meters (189-2). Down in San Diego at the Aztec Coastal Classic, the distance crew picked up two event wins and set four top-10 marks. Leading the way was Kaia Schmidt, who earned an individual victory in the steeplechase with a PR 10:34.23 that moved her up to No. 2 in school history. Emma Hadley also took home top honors in the 1500m, registering a lifetime-best 4:22.34 which ranks sixth at UCI.

SPRINTING TO THE TOP
In the first two weeks of the season, UC Irvine's sprinters have established a school record in the 4x400 relay and five individual top-10 marks. Junior transfer Catalina Teran made a statement in her Anteater debut, running the second-fastest 200m in program history with a time of 23.61 at the Beach Opener on March 7. She also took over the fifth spot in the 100m record book with a lifetime-best 11.64 at the Ben Brown Invitational (March 13). Teran was just behind senior Samantha Bartz, who clocked in at 11.60 to move up to No. 3 in school history. In the 400m, graduate transfer Aoife Hernon ran a time of 54.40 in her outdoor season debut to rank second all-time at UCI. Junior Halle Sutherland is among the top-four in both the 100m (11.61) and 200m (23.69) with PRs that she established last year. Hernon, Teran, Esmeray Demirbas, and Mikah Longcob also combined to run a school-record 3:40.83 in the 4x400 relay at Cal State Fullerton.

DISTANCE DUO
Juniors Kaia Schmidt and Emma Hadley led UC Irvine's distance crew through the cross country and indoor track & field seasons, and they continued to do the same in their outdoor debuts at the Aztec Coastal Classic (March 13). Schmidt ran a personal-record 10:34.23 in the steeplechase to rank second in program history. Hadley was also the individual champion in the 1500m with a lifetime-best 4:22.34 that puts her at No. 6 on UCI's all-time charts. Schmidt is a 2025 All-Big West performer in both cross country and outdoor track, while Hadley broke the indoor school record in the mile earlier this year.

THROWING IT OUT THERE
UCI has already set a top-five mark in school history in three of the four throwing events. Senior DeAna Davis improved on her No. 2 distance in the hammer with a PR 57.66m (189-2) at the Ben Brown Invitational. She is just over seven feet shy of the school record. Junior transfer Giselle Rodriguez ranks third in the javelin as she kicked off her Anteater career with a toss of 46.62m (152-11) at the Beach Opener. Sophomore Pinkie Schnayer also moved up to fifth in school history in the shot put at 14.94m (49-0.25).

RAISING THE BAR
The 'Eaters have built an impressive contingent in the jumps where they welcome back all three of their conference scorers and NCAA West First Round qualifiers in the high jump - senior Zharia Taylor, senior Esmeray Demirbas, and junior Kailah McKenzie. Taylor advanced to the 2025 NCAA Championships where she earned second-team All-America honors. The Anteaters will be a threat in the pole vault this year as well with the addition of freshman Jessie Condliff and junior transfer Kaylee Tan, along with the return of junior Alana Sugue, who missed last season with an injury.

UP NEXT
UC Irvine will head south to La Jolla for the Triton Invitational, April 3-4.