Vaicaro Is Setting a Fast Pace

To hear UC Irvine Coach Vince O’Boyle talk, the performance was more or less inevitable.

To hear cross-country runner Jamie Vaicaro talk, this was certainly a possibility.

Yet to see the actual number--34 seconds--is still amazing. That’s how much time Vaicaro knocked off her personal best. Vaicaro, a junior, finished the 5,000-meter course in 18 minutes 34 seconds at the Anteater Invitational Sept. 13, and was third among Irvine runners (24th overall).

This from a runner who never finished higher than eighth among team members in any race last season.

Inevitable? Possible? If they say so.

“Either [runners] adjust to college competition or they quit,” O’Boyle said. “I have never had anyone with ability quit.

“They come out of high school thinking they’re dedicated. They are not by college standards. Steve Scott had to go through it. Buffy Rabbitt went through it. It’s a learning process. Jamie has sucked it up and learned.”

And the lesson learned?

“I just got used to Vince and his workouts,” Vaicaro said. “You go hard on Monday and Wednesday. My body just needed to get used to his program. That took awhile.”

It has paid off this season and her drop in time has been dramatic.

A year ago, Vaicaro’s best time in an invitational meet was 19:23. Her highest finish was 41st and she was a distant 46th at the Big West meet.

This season, she has finished 24th in two meets--third among Irvine runners both times--heading into this weekend’s Stanford Invitational. She ran a 19:10 at the Cal State Fullerton Invitational, two seconds off her best, then came her performance at Irvine a week later.

“I saw the clock as I approached the finish line and wondered if it was a dream or something,” Vaicaro said. “I was excited and just kicked it in to the finish.

“I knew I could run faster, at least I thought I could. It was reaffirmation of that thought.”

Vaicaro had success in the past, by high school standards. She was one of the top runners at Katella, which is traditionally strong in girls’ cross-country, and finished 12th in the state meet.

Her high school career might have been even better, but Vaicaro chose to spread herself around athletically instead of concentrating on running. She played soccer for four years, volleyball for two years and softball for two years. On top of that she ran cross-country and was a distance runner in track and field.

“I finally decided that I loved running more,” said Vaicaro, who was a midfielder in soccer. “I had played soccer since I was 5, so it was an easy transition for me. Soccer takes so much energy that it kept me in shape for running.”

Or so she thought.

Vaicaro, who contacted O’Boyle during her senior year at Katella, wanted to run at Irvine and found out what that entailed. She discovered being in shape is one thing, being in O’Boyle shape is another.

“In high school, you do a hard workout on Thursday,” Vaicaro said. “It’s twice a week here. Vince’s workouts were hard at first. I wasn’t used to that much running.”

Two years later, Vaicaro seems up to it. Maybe it was inevitable.

Said O’Boyle: “The intensity is different for a freshman. Every athlete is different. Some adjust quickly, some it takes a couple years. They all go through it.”

Vaicaro, apparently, has just come out the other side.

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The women’s soccer team begins Big West Conference play this week, opening against UC Santa Barbara at home Friday. But the bigger game will be Sunday at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

“We play them one game at a time,” Coach Marine Cano said.

An admirable, and traditional, philosophy. Yet one can’t help peek ahead in this case.

It was San Luis Obispo that ended the Anteaters’ slim hopes of being invited to the NCAA tournament last season. The Mustangs beat the Anteaters, 2-0, in the conference tournament championship game.

“San Luis Obispo is a tough place to play,” Cano said. “They have a tight field and you have to keep their crowd quit. We have to go in and do our work early.”

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The men’s soccer team is 0-3-1 on the road this season and has yet to score a goal away from home. Not a good sign considering nine of the Anteaters’ remaining 15 games are on the road.

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More road woes: When Merja Connolly, women’s volleyball coach, signed up her team for the Santa Clara Challenge, she didn’t realize how challenging it would be.

On Wednesday, the Anteaters played San Francisco in a five-game match that lasted nearly 2 1/2 hours. Afterward, they immediately drove to Santa Clara, arriving around 1 a.m. They played Wyoming at 11 a.m. the next day in the tournament. They then played Brown four hours later.

Connolly was not planning on three matches in less than 24 hours, but Santa Clara officials were forced to move the tournament up a day because of scheduling conflicts in their gymnasium.

“It would have been nice to have that extra day to explore San Francisco a little,” Connolly said.

Or even sleep.

Still, Connolly found a silver lining: Irvine won two of its three matches.

“It’s easy to play well when things are going right,” Connolly said. “I saw that this team has the endurance to pull out wins.”

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Coming Attractions

Here’s a look at key games this week for UC Irvine:

* Men’s and women’s cross-country competes Saturday at the Stanford Invitational.

* Men’s soccer hosts Loyola Marymount at 8 p.m. Friday and plays at 3 p.m. Sunday at San Diego State.

* Women’s soccer opens Big West Conference play at home at 6 p.m. Friday against UC Santa Barbara and plays at 3 p.m. Sunday at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

* Women’s volleyball opens Big West Conference play Thursday at Pacific and plays Saturday at Long Beach State. Both matches are at 7 p.m.

* Water polo opens Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play at noon Saturday against Pepperdine at Heritage Park.