Anteaters’ men start fresh

Loping through a quarter century as a head coach at UC Irvine, men’s cross country sage Vince O’Boyle has, arguably, more conference coach of the year awards (20) than Hawaiian shirts.

And though clearly still vibrant, the ever-present twinkle in the veteran mentor’s eyes these days has a new sparkle, the result of new faces in the program for his 25th season at the helm.

The Anteaters, with the help of second-year associate head coach and recruiting coordinator Jeff Perkins, have brought in seven true freshmen, five of whom O’Boyle believes will begin making an impact on the program, in varying degrees, right away.

“If they all stay together, they could potentially be the best recruiting class we’ve ever had,” said O’Boyle, whose squad finished fifth at the Big West Conference Championships last season and was picked to finish fifth in the recent conference coaches’ preseason poll.

“We may take our lumps a little bit this year, because we are so young,” O’Boyle said. “But this group of freshmen is going to keep me excited for the next four years.”

Leading the cast of newcomers is Newport Harbor High product Rex Nelson, who won the 3,200 meters at the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet last spring.

“He has trained really well,” O’Boyle said of Nelson, who has recovered fully from the Iliotibial Band Syndrome in his right knee that slowed him early in his senior prep track campaign. “There is going to be a learning curve there, but he’s going to do all right.”

Other freshmen expected to burst onto the scene this season are Chris Proffitt, Sam Hyams, Nick Osborne and Danny Kalinowski. O’Boyle also has high hopes for Cam Mitchell from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the only runner not from California on the roster.

“Proffitt [out of San Lorenzo High in Santa Cruz] was 11th [in Division IV] at the CIF State cross country finals last year,” O’Boyle said. “He’s going to be a big factor.”

O’Boyle said Hyams, out of Foothill High in Pleasanton, was a state meet qualifier in both cross country and track.

Osborne, out of Victor Valley Christian School in Apple Valley, was the CIF Southern Section Division IV champion in the 3,200 last year and he finished ninth in Division V at the state cross country finals.

“Coming from such a small school, [Osborne] was a little bit under the radar last year,” O’Boyle said. “I think he is going to come in and surprise some people.”

O’Boyle said Kalinowski ran the 3,200 in nine minutes, 25 seconds last season at Mira Costa High of Manhattan Beach.

O’Boyle said the aforementioned freshmen are hungry for knowledge and have a passion for the sport.

O’Boyle is also pleased with the leadership being provided this group, specifically that of senior Nick Mosey and junior Colin Hacker.

Mosey was 19th at the conference meet last season and 60th at the NCAA West Regional and O’Boyle said he has continued his vast improvement since last fall.

“He had a very good track season last year, scoring in the conference 10,000,” O’Boyle said. “He is capable of being in the top five in the conference if he really runs well.”

Mosey topped the 135-runner field at Saturday’s season-opening Asics/UC Irvine Invitational. He completed the 8000-meter course in 25:14.30, just more than seven seconds ahead of runner-up Hacker.

Hacker was 26th at the conference meet and 116th at the West Regional last season and he ran personal bests in the 800 and 1,500 during a redshirt year in track last spring.

“He has picked up his distance training quite a bit and I think we’ll see some big improvement in cross country,” O’Boyle said of Hacker.

Senior Rusty Whisman and sophomore Victor Bonilla, 48th and 53rd, respectively, at the conference finals last season, are also back to help UCI form a chase pack with UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis, behind defending conference champion and prohibitive favorite Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

“I think it will be a dog fight for second through fifth,” O’Boyle said.

UCI finished second as a team to UCLA Saturday.

Whisman was 12th (25:53.90), Nelson 19th (26:07.50), Proffitt 35th (26:37.90) and Kalinowski 36th (26:40.80).

Senior Solomon Tesfaye finished 50th (27:11.90), Osborne 54th (27:16.40) and Bonilla 57th (27:23.00).