NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Sophomore Phil
Young could be a contributor to the cross country team in
the future. The team is looking to improve.
By Dylan Hernandez
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Considering how the UCLA cross country teams looked on paper at
the beginning of the year, their seasons turned out quite well.
The women’s team, which had made its second straight trip
to the NCAA Championships in 1999, lost three of its top runners in
the offseason.
Kelly Cohn quit the team for personal reasons and No. 1 runner
Kate Vermuelen left school altogether. Furthermore, it was
announced that Elaine Canchola would redshirt.
The men, in the meantime, appeared to be stuck with the same
problem they had last season: they didn’t have a high-class
front-runner. And while most Pac-10 schools’ rosters were
littered with the names of high school All-Americans, the Bruin men
didn’t have any.
The men, however, seemed to be anxious to run for their new
coach, Eric Peterson, who had been in charge of the women’s
program for the past six years.
“I think the team will do better with Coach
Peterson,” junior Bryan Green said at the beginning of the
season. “Eric is really focused on team discipline.
We’re coming together as one and it’ll be beneficial to
all of us.”
After going to a pair of low-key meets, UCLA had its first big
race day on Sept. 23. The women travelled to Minnesota to take part
in the Roy Griak Invitational, and the men went to Washington to
run in the Sun Dodger Invite.
The two squads returned to Westwood with vastly different
results.
The women struggled to a disappointing 18th-place finish,
knocking them off the list of teams in contention for an at-large
berth to the NCAA finals.
The men, on the other hand, were a close third behind host
Washington and Michigan, the nation’s No. 10 team. In the
process, UCLA beat Texas Tech and Washington State.
Green, who was seventh in that race, was starting to look like a
legitimate No. 1 runner. Interestingly, he emerged as the
team’s leader while sticking to the plan of pack running
““ Green would run the first three miles with his teammates
before making his way up the field.
Behind him, senior Paul Muite was running steadily, as was
junior Andrew Wulf. Freshman Jon Rankin was making a surprisingly
easy transition to the longer distances run at the collegiate
level. Seniors Scott Abbott, the team captain, and Mason Moore
suffered mild injuries, but looked to be ready for the late season
competitions.
Prior to the Pac-10 Championships, the women managed to gain
some momentum of their own, placing sixth at the big Stanford
Invite and winning at Penn State.
Senior captain Christina Bowen was adequately filling in the top
spot vacated by Vermuelen, and fellow senior Katie Nuanes was
always close behind.
Sophomores Kelly Grimes and Melissa McBain were developing
nicely as the team’s late scorers.
Freshman Valerie Flores, though, had trouble handling the
training volume. The high school All-American, who had been up with
Bowen and Nuanes early in the season, was no longer even
scoring.
Still, the teams entered the conference finals confident, hoping
a high finish would vault them to a berth at the national
championships.
That confidence came crashing down at the Pac-10s, where the men
and women both finished sixth.
Two weeks later at the West Regionals, results were much the
same. The men finished seventh and the women were eighth. But this
time, the teams felt better about how they did.
“We’re just happy overall about how our seasons came
out,” Abbott said after the race. “We did our race
plan, and that’s all you can do.”
“After the race, I asked each girl if she did her
best,” Bowen said following their finish at regionals.
“And each of them said “˜yes.’ I’m pleased
with that.”
And the program received some consolation, as Bowen and Green
advanced to the NCAAs as individuals. There, Bowen and Green
finished 70th and 121st, respectively.
Although the two teams failed to qualify for nationals, Peterson
and the runners felt they took steps forward that should help them
during upcoming seasons.
“These aren’t finishes we’ll be looking to
duplicate in the future,” Peterson said. “We did well
at the top, but our 3-4-5 spots have to be stronger. We have to
look at that. But there were some positives.”
Next year, the women will return Flores, who should be stronger
with a year of collegiate running behind her. Grimes and McBain,
who made huge improvements this year, could be key scorers, along
with seniors-to-be Alynda Franco and Bridie Hatch.
Canchola will return to competition, strengthening a team that
will reportedly be adding middle distance star Alejandra Barrientos
of San Lorenzo Valley.
The men will lose Muite, Abbott and Moore, but will return
Green, Rankin, Wulf and junior Justin Patananan. Sophomore Phil
Young could figure into the mix as well.
The men’s team appears to be in the hunt for Ryan Hall of
Big Bear High School, who is considered one of California’s
best prep runners ever. Earlier this month, Hall broke the record
on the famed course at Mt. San Antonio College. A week later, he
cruised to a 38-second victory at the state championships.
In several interviews with various publications, Hall has said
he has narrowed his college choices down to UCLA, Stanford and Cal
Baptist.
If the Bruins can land him, they will start next year with a
stronger looking roster sheet.