The UCLA cross-country squads started the 2002 season off with
high hopes, great races and tons of team spirit.
Saturday, Aug. 31, both the men’s and women’s teams
competed in the Cal State Fullerton “Season Opener”
Cross-Country event held at Carbon Canyon Regional Park in
Brea.
The meet consisted of seventeen different schools, with 142 men
and 153 women competing.
The Bruin men are all freshman and sophomores, while the
women’s team picked up ten new freshmen for the season.
Consequently, expectations were not set too high for this meet.
The results exceeded these expectations and then some, with Ben
Aragon placing ninth overall for the men, beating his personal best
from last year by a full minute. He gave partial credit for this
improvement to a better understanding of the course and how things
were run.
“In your first race, everyone’s timid,” he
said. “I have higher expectations for this year’s team
and season. Our middle team is tight and very close to each
other.”
With runners like Aragon, Jon Rankin, and new Swedish addition
Erik Emilsson, the men’s team should challenge their
preseason labels: “young and inexperienced the deeper they
got into the team” and “the men have their work cut out
for them at the conference level”.
With definite noticeable improvement shown from last year, four
of the women’s runners placed in the top ten at Fullerton.
Lori Mann placed sixth overall, with Jenna Timinsky and Alejandra
Barrientos coming in behind her in seventh and eighth place. Sarah
West placed tenth.
“It felt great to open the season up this way,” Mann
said. “I expect our team to do so much better this year. I
feel more confident, and we are getting stronger.”
Timinsky shared the same outlook, after running her best time
ever on a 5,000-kilometer course.
Both runners were looking forward to the team’s trip to
Mammoth for high-altitude training, held a few days after the
meet.
The bond shared between the men’s and women’s team
was no secret at the meet, with the men’s team easily being
the loudest cheering section for the women during their run. No
other team was heard anywhere near their volume. Having just
finished a race themselves, they still ran alongside the women,
screaming the eight count and encouraging the women on.
Head Coach Eric Peterson was happy to know this image of
support, unity and togetherness is being portrayed, but emphasized
strongly that they are two separate teams.
Both teams will face pressure from Stanford, which poses the
biggest threat down the stretch after already dominating at
Fullerton. The Cardinal secured first through fourth place in the
women’s race and first through third in the men’s.
BYU will also come in as a major threat at the national level.
Still, Coach Peterson says the women’s team has eight runners
he claims to be better than their number one runner last year.
For the guys, they are encouraged with their top four. Both the
men and women’s teams have a list of positive things in their
favor. Hopefully their energy will last throughout the season.