O’Boyle’s crew poised for run at Big West title

The UC Irvine women’s cross country team is hoping the third time

is a charm as the Anteaters, including the men’s squad, are set to

compete in the Big West Championships Saturday at UC Riverside.

The UCI women have finished second to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

each of the last two years. So, obviously, the Anteaters set the goal

of winning the Big West title before the season began.

“We’re healthy and we’re ready to go,” UCI coach Vince O’Boyle

said Wednesday. “On the women’s side, (the Big West title is) going

to be between four schools, Idaho, Utah State, Santa Barbara and us.

I’ve had teams that have been like this before, teams that can rise

up in the end and win.”

The Anteaters will most likely be led by senior Amanda Armstrong,

who has displayed consistency throughout the season. She has been

awarded the Big West Athlete of the Week twice this season. Armstrong

finished fifth overall in 18:43.50 on the 5,000-meter course at the

UCR Invitational Sept. 21.

The Anteaters also feature junior Julie Manson, the lone returning

all-conference runner for UCI from last year’s Big West meet, when

she finished seventh.

“Manson has had some problems,” O’Boyle said. “But the type of

athlete she is, I know she will be fine. She’s capable of stepping it

up.”

UCI senior Wendy Chan and sophomore Kaleena Yee have shown

improvement in recent weeks, and O’Boyle expects senior Lisa Massoth,

juniors Melinda Fuller and Jenna Keith, and sophomore Janelle Del

Soldato to contribute their best performances of the season.

On the men’s side, UCI is led by senior Travis Morisoli and

freshmen Tom Whelan and Ricky Barnes.

“It’s been a fun team to watch develop over the year,” O’Boyle

said of his men’s team. “It’s proven to me that they are going to be

a good team in the future. It feels weird saying it, but our team

goal (Saturday) is fourth place. This is a team that can do that and

that will upset some teams.”

* UCI men’s basketball coach Pat Douglass said he is looking

forward to facing Oklahoma, which is ranked No. 3 in the nation in

the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Anteaters could most

likely play the Sooners Nov. 23 in the Oklahoma Tournament.

“We heard that (the Sooners) were going to be in the top 5,”

Douglass said. “Whenever you play them at their place you know it’s

going to be tough. It’s something to look forward to. It’s going to

be great for our young kids.”

After two exhibition games, UCI opens the regular season at the

Oklahoma Tournament, facing Princeton Nov. 22. If the Anteaters win

and if the Sooners defeat Western Michigan, as expected, UCI will

face Oklahoma Nov. 23.

UCI went through its first intrasquad scrimmage Tuesday. Douglass

said the 45-minute game, which had officials, served as a great

workout for his players.

* It will be another big weekend for UCI Coach Ted Newland’s

men’s water polo team. The fifth-ranked Anteaters will face UCLA,

ranked No. 2 in the nation Saturday, in a Mountain Pacific Sports

Federation game at noon at Sunset Canyon Recreation Center. UCI will

also host No. 8 Pacific Sunday, also at noon, in the Anteaters’ home

finale.

Last week, the ‘Eaters battled in an exciting game against

top-ranked Stanford, which came back from an 8-7 deficit, scored two

goals in the final 2:09 and won, 9-8.

“We could have easily won that game,” Newland said. “It was a good

game to watch. It was an exciting game. In the USC game we played

really good defense. Our defense was much better. We did a lot better

job of helping each other out. It was a low-scoring game.”

UCI rebounded two days later and defeated No. 3 USC, which is now

ranked fourth. The Anteaters improved their defense, which led to a

4-2 victory over the Trojans.

“It was a good weekend for us from my point of my view,” Newland

said of splitting games last weekend. “God only knows what’s going to

happen the rest of the way. We have to play at UCLA, and that’s a

hard place to play. (The Bruins) have been playing very well. They

beat us the last time we played against each other and it’s going to

be a great game. All of those (MPSF) games are going to be hard.”

The Bruins, similar to the Anteaters, nearly upset the Cardinal

Sunday at UCLA, which lost, 12-10 in overtime. Peter Belden, a

Newport Harbor High product, scored his second goal of the game to

give UCLA an 8-6 lead with 2:48 remaining. However, the Cardinal

struck back with three goals, including two by Tony Azevedo in a

little over a minute to take a 9-8 lead. UCLA responded when Ted Peck

found the back of the cage with 57 seconds left in the match, sending

the game into overtime.

Stanford’s Mike Derse, who scored a game-high four goals, recorded

two scores in the overtime to help lead the Cardinal to victory.

UCI is 1-1 against the Bruins this season. The Anteaters opened

their season with a 10-7 victory over UCLA, and the Bruins scored a

7-5 victory in the NorCal Tournament Oct. 6. The Bruins went on to

win the tournament.

* Sunday’s game against Pacific will mark the final home

appearance for Anteater seniors Doug Finfrock and Jeff Powers.

Finfrock, UCI’s starting goalie, has recorded 139 saves this

season.

Powers, the Anteaters’ 6-foot-6, 220-pound two-meter man, leads

UCI in scoring with 45 goals.