Makena Castillo

makena-castillo-wxc-2024-ucr-invite-preview

Height:
5-3
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Huntington Beach, Calif.
High School:
Marina HS

2025 (Senior)
• Had her first career top-20 Big West Championship finish
• Placed 17th overall, covering the 6K course in 21:56.0
• Anteaters’ No. 3 runner at the NCAA West Regional
• Clocked a 6K season-best 21:10.5 at the UCR Invitational
• Made the Big West Fall All-Academic Team for the third year in a row

2024 (Junior)
• Began the season with a fourth-place finish at the Irvine Invitational
• Ran a 6K personal record 20:42.6 at the UCR Invitational, the ninth-fastest time in school history
• Placed 35th at the Big West Championships
• Earned Big West Fall All-Academic honors

2023 (Sophomore)
• Finished 28th out of 104 at the season-opening Big West Preview, completing the 5K course in 18:51.3
• Ran a 6K season-best 21:32.3 at the UCR Invitational
• Also clocked a sub 22-minute time at the Bronco Invitational (21:41.6)
• Competed at both the Big West Championships and NCAA West Regional
• Named to the Big West Fall All-Academic Team

2022 (Redshirt)
• Did not compete

2021 (Freshman)
• Had a top-20 finish in her collegiate debut at the Anteater Opener 4K (14:56.9)
• Ran a 6K season-best 21:53.3 at the UCR Invitational
• Competed in the Big West Championship

High School
• Three-sport athlete, lettering in cross country, track and soccer at Marina High School
• Won the 2021 Sunset League Cross Country Finals with a 3-mile PR of 18:04.3
• Also claimed the 2021 Sunset League individual titles in the 800m, 1600m and 3200m and ran a leg on the first-place 4x400
• Advanced to the CIF-Southern Section Division I Finals in the 1600m where she came in eighth with a lifetime-best 5:02.23
• Anchored the 4x800 that ran a school record 9:36.38 in a top-10 finish at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational
• Led the Vikings' soccer team to the third round of the CIF playoffs
• Named the 2020 league offensive MVP
• Selected as the 2021 Orange County Athletic Directors Association Girls' Athlete of the Year

Personal
• Majoring in public health sciences
• Played eight years of club soccer
• Both parents are UCI track & field alums; Mother was an All-American and Big West champion in the hurdles

TOP MARKS AT UCI
4K = 14:56.9 (2021 Anteater Opener)
5K = 18:51.3 (2023 Big West Preview)
6K = 20:42.6 (2024 UCR Invitational)