Anteaters set to surprise

The UC Irvine cross country invitational Saturday represented both a season opener and a virtual first impression for Anteaters men’s and women’s coach Vince O’Boyle.

Due to NCAA limits on training sessions with coaches, O’Boyle saw his runners work out for the first time on Wednesday.

He said forecasting individual promise from such scant observation is difficult, but he does believe both his men’s and women’s teams will exceed expectations this season.

Part of that has to do with those expectations being low, as both teams were picked to finish near the bottom of the Big West Conference, O’Boyle said.

The women’s team finished second at the conference championships last season, then lost nine runners to graduation.

Included among those who have moved on were Laura Olvera (conference runner-up and a top three Big West finisher all four seasons) and two-time all-conference performer Candice Chavez, fifth at the 2008 conference meet.

Still, O’Boyle believes the emergence of former Newport Harbor High standout Melissa Mead, a redshirt freshman who transferred from Iona, and former Irvine High star Katherine Nielsen, as well as some talented underclassmen, can help UCI rise again.

“[The coaches] picked us sixth [in conference], but I think we’re better than sixth,” said O’Boyle in his 28th season at UCI.

Another Newport Harbor product, sophomore Rex Nelson, is the leading runner on a men’s squad that finished sixth at last year’s conference meet and lost its top runner in Nick Mosey.

Nelson was 24th at the conference championships and 116th at the NCAA West Regional, where UCI finished 19th.

“He’s in the best shape he has been in,” O’Boyle said of Nelson, who finished fourth Saturday, completing the 8,000-meter course in 25 minutes, 23.8 seconds. “I think he can be in the top 10 at the conference meet. He’s capable of that.”

Others expected to contribute for the men include junior Victor Bonilla, sophomore Sam Hyams, sophomore Andy Burich, freshman Austin Williams, as well as transfers Brandon Holiday and Barrett Tilley.

Adding to the optimism for the women are junior Shelby Pock, as well as freshmen Chloe Fata, Maggie Newton-Neal, Nicole Mendoza, Courtney Wilson and Carlotta Pham.

Mead, who was injured at Iona and needed the last 12 months to return to the kind of fitness level she enjoyed in high school, was 19th Saturday (18:19..9 over 5,000 meters).

Mendoza (28th), Fata (57th) and Pham (62nd) also stood out for UCI in the opening meet.

Bonilla was 48th at the conference meet as a sophomore and has had his most devoted off-season, O’Boyle said. He finished 20th Saturday.

“[Bonilla] could be a really huge asset to the program,” O’Boyle said.

Holiday comes from Pepperdine, while Tilley competed at San Diego Mesa Community College the last two seasons.

Another wild card for the men is senior Colin Hacker, who may or may not redshirt, pending financial aid matters, O’Boyle said.

“[Hacker] could run with Rex,” O’Boyle said of Hacker, who finished 59th at the conference meet last season.

Hyams was 50th at the Big West Championships as a freshman and O’Boyle said both he and Burich had a breakthrough track season last spring.

“We’re picked fifth [by men’s coaches], but I don’t believe in polls,” O’Boyle said.

After graduation virtually cleared every spot on the travel roster, O’Boyle said his women’s runners have worked hard to take their turn in the lineup this season.

“All the girls who were in school here, stayed here over the summer to train,” O’Boyle said.

“This [women’s] team has me fired up, because I think we’re going to have a nice little team,” O’Boyle said. “And they’re all going to be back next year.

“It’s going to be a challenge, but, like the men’s team, it’s going to be a fun challenge. And I think [both teams] are going to surprise some people, I really believe that — especially on the women’s side..”

Both teams compete Sept. 26 at the Stanford Invitational.