UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK / ELLIOTT TEAFORD : No One Pushing Women Runners

The UC Irvine women’s cross-country team, zooming to the top of the charts, is at No. 4 in the national coaches’ poll, the highest ranking in school history.

The Anteaters run the first of three important meets Saturday in the Big West Conference championships at Woodward Park in Fresno. The 5,000-meter (3.1-mile) race begins at 10 a.m.

The big question is: Who can possibly prevent the Anteaters from winning their seventh championship in eight seasons?

How about it, Rayna Cervantes? “Hmmmmmmm.”

Whaddya say, Traci Goodrich? “I don’t know.”

What’s your assessment as coach, Vince O’Boyle? “We’re training through this meet.”

The coaches’ poll has Villanova ranked No. 1, Brigham Young and Providence sharing No. 2 and Irvine fourth. The only other West Coast teams ranked among the top 25 are Oregon (sixth) and Washington State (18th).

And that makes Irvine a favorite to win its NCAA regional meet, also at Woodward Park, in two weeks. If the Anteaters finish first or second, they’ll qualify for the NCAA championships Nov. 19 in Knoxville, Tenn.

Buffy Rabbitt, Irvine’s No. 1 runner, has won three of four races, losing only to Suzy Favor of Wisconsin, the nation’s top middle-distance runner.

But the Anteaters’ strength lies in the heart of their order, where Cervantes and Goodrich have taken turns as No. 2. Cervantes, a sophomore from Montebello High, and Goodrich, a freshman from Palos Verdes, each have finished twice at No. 2 and twice at No. 3.

“You get into debates with coaches all the time,” O’Boyle said. “Is cross-country a team sport or an individual sport? You need strong No. 2-3-4-5 runners. Depth is really important.”

Cervantes and Goodrich have proven to be almost inseparable. They share an apartment across the street from the campus with another runner and a fourth student.

“It’s more fun to run together,” Cervantes said.

“Most of the races we finish right after each other,” Goodrich said.

Both come from similar backgrounds.

They were running at a high competitive level even before they entered high school. As a senior at Montebello, Cervantes was second in the state cross-country meet and eighth in the Kinney national championships. She also won three consecutive Southern Section 3-A titles.

Goodrich led Palos Verdes to three consecutive state Division I team titles and helped the Sea Kings extend their streak to five consecutive Southern Section 4-A championships.

Both said the transition from high school to college was made easier by the numerous championship meets they’d competed in.

“The first year I went to the Kinney nationals, I was overwhelmed,” Cervantes said. “I was a 16-year-old sophomore, and I had read all about those runners from back east.”

It got easier, though.

Goodrich had the benefit of being among a collection of great runners at Palos Verdes. Asked about her closest rivals, she couldn’t think of any.

“We went out and ran together,” she said. “We didn’t look back.”

And come to think of it, that’s exactly how Irvine has raced this season.

Maggie Henson, suffering from tendinitis in her left foot, will miss Saturday’s meet. She will wear a soft cast until Friday and is expected to run in the regional meet in two weeks.

Henson, the Anteaters’ No. 4 runner, will be replaced by Jade Preato, a junior from San Diego Mesa College.

The men’s cross-country team is by no means a favorite to win its fifth Big West championship in six years.

The Anteaters are without a senior among the top seven runners and have lost to Fresno State and UC Santa Barbara at invitationals.

But O’Boyle is hopeful they can pull off an upset. “We’ve been getting closer (to Fresno) every week,” he said. “On paper, this is the closest men’s meet in the nine years I’ve been in the conference.”

Irvine lost to Fresno by five points and defeated Santa Barbara at the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Invitational Oct. 13.

O’Boyle said Ben Ayres, a junior from Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento, is capable of being a front-runner.

“He can finish anywhere from first to fourth,” O’Boyle said.

The men’s 8,000-meter race (about five miles) begins at 11 a.m.

Holding pattern: Coach Ted Newland will have to wait until at least Saturday for his 500th career water polo victory. The Anteaters lost, 8-7, to Pepperdine Tuesday night, their fourth loss in the past fifth games.

Irvine plays Air Force in the first round of the Cal State Long Beach 49er Invitational at 9:10 a.m. Saturday at Belmont Plaza pool.

Newland, in his 25th season at UCI, has a career mark of 499-177-5.

Add water polo: Leading scorer Pablo Yrizar broke the middle finger on his right hand during practice last week and did not play in Tuesday’s loss to Pepperdine. He has scored 54 goals for the Anteaters (9-10, 1-4 in conference play).

Anteater Notes

Men’s basketball games will be broadcast on KWIZ (96.7 FM), ending a five-year arrangement with KORG. Bill Macdonald and Rob Halvaks will call the play-by-play, with former Anteater Coach Tim Tift doing the commentary. The Anteaters’ first game is Nov. 23 against UCLA in the Great Alaska Shootout. . . . The golf team finished sixth at the Stanford Invitational last weekend. Lyle Archer, a junior who shot 220 for the 54-hole tournament (72-73-75), led Irvine with a 13th-place finish.

The men’s soccer team finally won a Big West Conference game, beating Cal State Fullerton, 1-0, Friday. Kevin Smith’s goal led Irvine (5-11-2, 1-5-1 in Big West play). The Anteaters will be trying to end a nine-game losing streak against Fresno State when the teams play Sunday in Fresno. . . . The women’s soccer team ends its season with games at Santa Clara Saturday and the U.S. International Wednesday. They are 6-10-2 after Tuesday’s 1-0 victory over Regis College at Crawford Field.