Anteaters are touted

The UC Irvine women’s and men’s cross country teams have been picked to finish second and third, respectively, in the Big West Conference preseason coaches’ polls released Wednesday.

The UCI women, who won the conference title last season, are picked to finish behind UC Santa Barbara.

The Anteaters return Laura Olvera, last season’s Big West Freshman of the Year and the conference runner-up, along with all-conference performer Marie Nguyen, who was sixth at the Big West meet last season.

The UCI men will be led by seniors Ricky Barnes and Tom Whelan. They were the team’s top two runners in 2004 before redshirting last year.

Both Anteater teams open the 2006 schedule by playing host to the UCI Invitational, Sept. 9 at Central Park in Huntington Beach. The meet begins at 8:30 a.m.