Buffy Rabbitt, a five-time All-American in cross-country and track and a two-time NCAA Region 8 cross-country champion, ran for UCI from 1986 to 1990 under legendary coach Vince O’Boyle. In 1987, the UCI women’s cross-country team finished first in the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (in 1988 the PCAA changed its name to the Big West Conference). Buffy Rabbitt, a freshman, placed fourth in the NCAA championships that year, the highest finish to that point in the history of UCI women’s cross-country. She was women’s cross-country PCAA Athlete of the Year in 1987 and again in 1990.   Buffy also worked as a student assistant in the Langson Library Reference Department during this period. It was always hard to believe that this somewhat shy, yet kind and helpful student could turn into such a fiercely competitive athlete when she ran. In 1998, Buffy Rabbitt was inducted into the UCI Athletic Hall of Fame, along with former basketball coach Bill Mulligan, water polo player Jeff Campbell and golfer Jerry Wisz.

AS-061. Communications Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, the U.C. Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.