The pride has been restored to UCLA’s cross country
program.
Both the men’s and women’s teams competed in the
NCAA West Regional Cross Country Qualifiers at Stanford on Saturday
and returned redeemed and confident after an upset at the Pac-10
championships the week before.
The men ended their season with an eighth overall finish. The
women finished in third place ““ the highest ranking the team
has garnered in the regional championships since head coach Eric
Peterson has been coaching it.
Now the women’s team must wait for the decision to be made
on whether or not it will continue on as an at-large bid in the
NCAA championships next weekend in Terra Haute, Ind.
The top two teams in each region automatically qualify for a
race slot at the NCAA championships. In addition, 13 teams are
chosen by a committee based on their performances at the regional
qualifiers and their regular seasons. A large factor in that
decision is a team’s personal win-loss record against teams
who received automatic placements.
The outlook is positive for the Bruin women. The team advanced
with an at-large bid last year after placing fifth at the
qualifier.
“I think our chances are very good. We have the
significant wins needed,” Peterson said.
Earlier this season, they beat Florida State, which placed
second in the South division to secure its own championship
spot.
In the event the team does not qualify, junior Lena Nilsson
already has her individual spot secured. Placing second overall at
the qualifier with a time of 20 minutes, 45 seconds, Peterson feels
that Nilsson “has certainly placed herself amongst the
contenders for the title next week.”
He also feels Nilsson is the most improved cross-country runner
in America, having come from a 135th place finish at last
year’s NCAA championships.
Also scoring for the women Saturday were freshman Jenna Timinsky
in ninth place, followed by sophomores Carmen Winant (19th), Lori
Mann (27th), and Alejandra Barrientos (28th).
For both the men and the women, Peterson declared the day to be
“the best day of racing we’ve had all season.”
The men came back from a disappointing last-place finish at the
Pac-10 championships to take eighth overall on Saturday.
Since then, the men have been working on setting realistic
expectations for the regional meet.
“Seventh place was the best we possibly could have been
under any circumstances.” Peterson said.
The team was led by sophomore Erik Emilsson, who finished 34th.
Sophomore Ben Aragon finished 44th despite battling illness, and
sophomore Jon Rankin came in 52nd. Rankin is just recently back
running after being on the injury list for most of the season.
The women’s at-large decisions will be announced later
today. If chosen, the team will leave this Friday for Terre Haute
and race Nov. 25. From the Western region, Stanford and Arizona
State have qualified for the championships ““ joining
Georgetown, Brigham Young, University of Colorado, Oregon, North
Carolina State, Notre Dame, Michigan, and Northwestern.