Monday, October 20, 1997
Bruins sharpen field skills, prepare for competition
Despite ineligibility, team attends Triton; all place in top
40
By Donald Morrison
Daily Bruin Contributor
Four runners for the UCLA men’s cross-country team got an
opportunity to do what they wanted to do on Saturday at the Triton
Invitational in San Diego.
The Bruin runners got the opportunity to gain experience running
at a high level of competition.
"They weren’t able to run last week (at the NCAA Preview Meet)
so they need more races to keep them sharp," UCLA head coach Bob
Larsen said before the race. "We need to keep them sharp in case
they’re called upon to run at the Pac-10 championships."
The Bruins did look sharp down in San Diego. All four of UCLA’s
runners placed in the top 40 out of over 100 athletes competing.
The Bruins, however, were not able to score as a team because they
did not field the minimum requirement of five runners to
qualify.
Mason Moore led the Bruin squad on Saturday. Moore finished 8th
with a personal best time of 25 minutes, 38 seconds over the
five-mile course in San Diego.
True freshman, Paul Muite, finished in 14th with a personal best
time of 25:50. Muite overcame a weak second-mile to run strong
third and fourth miles. Muite managed to catch a slew of runners
late in the race to finish 14th.
"The times and places were good especially for Muite and Moore,"
Larsen said. "They looked good. Moore got out well and ran well
throughout the race and Muite got out as well. He showed he could
come back. He’s learned a lot since the Stanford race."
Junior Ryan Larson improved 10 places from last year’s
invitational to finish 27th with a time of 26:27. Larson was
feeling slightly ill but still managed to run well. The final Bruin
runner, Anthony Ossa, placed 39th.
Ossa, normally an 800 meter runner for the UCLA track and field
team, ran a personal best time of 26:51 for five miles.
"It was a good strong race for Larson," said Larsen. "And Ossa
moved up from track and ran a good race. Overall it was a good race
for everybody."
* * *
UCLA’s top seven runners trained through the weekend and did not
compete in any races, as they are preparing for the Pac-10
Championships on Nov. 1.
"They need time to build for higher levels of competition,"
Larsen said. "We need time to train hard. When racing, you can’t
train all that hard because you need time to rest. We want to try
to close the gap between us and the rest of the teams in the
Pac-10."
UCLA will likely forgo its next scheduled meet on Saturday. The
Bruins are scheduled to run at the Cal-Poly Pomona Bronco
Invitational.
"You get more from the guys from practicing than from racing,"
Larsen said.