After some very encouraging individual performances at the Roy
Griak Invitational two weekends ago, both the men’s and
women’s cross country teams will return to action this
Saturday without their top runners.
Coach Eric Peterson will be sending limited men’s and
women’s squads to San Diego for the UCSD Triton Classic
Invitational, using the meet as an experience builder for his
younger runners, while giving the team leaders ample time to rest
for the upcoming NCAA Pre-National Meet in Terre Haute, Ind.
“We are trying to determine from this weekend’s
group of athletes who is running at the strongest level to join the
team once when we go to the Pre-National meet next weekend,”
Peterson said.
This weekend’s Triton Classic will give Peterson a better
idea of who will be rounding out the bottom half of his lineups.
With juniors Austin Ramos and Ashley Caldwell leading the
men’s and women’s teams, filling out the roster has
become Peterson’s main focus.
Two weeks ago at the Griak Invitational in Minnesota, Caldwell
finished fourth in a 6,000-meter race that included many of the
nation’s elite college runners. Her time of 21:05 placed her
just seven seconds behind last year’s Western Regional
Champion Amy Hastings of Arizona State.
Similarly, Ramos continued his impressive junior campaign with a
strong sixth-place showing in the men’s 8,000-meter race,
clocking in at 24:21.
“We’ve had some great performances at the
top,” Peterson said.
“For the women, it’s simply a matter of experience.
On the men’s side, we need to find the guys who will be able
to step up into the last few spots. Most of these guys have never
been counted on to score points.”
In all, the Bruin men’s team will send just two runners,
redshirt freshman Matt Stollenwerk and freshman Ryan Gordon, to the
race, and the women’s team will send four runners, freshmen
Lauren Jirges and Ciara Viehweg, redshirt senior Lori Mann and
senior Leslie Barrie.
INJURY UPDATE: Prized freshman recruit Laef
Barnes continues to be held out of meets while he nurses what
Peterson describes as a lingering leg injury from high school.
Barnes has no timetable for return this season, if he returns at
all.
“We’ll have to make a good decision whether to get
him back in the mix or have him sit out the rest of the season,
take real good care of his injury to make sure he is ready for the
track season,” Peterson said. “It’s a decision we
have to make as time passes, day by day.”
In just a couple of meets this season, Barnes has shown great
promise. At the Sun Dodger Invite three weeks ago, he placed fourth
on the team in the first 8,000-meter race of his career.
MOVING UP: In the latest national cross country
poll, the women’s team picked up four votes, putting them
36th in the country and fourth in the Pac-10, behind Stanford,
Arizona State and Washington. This is the team’s first
ranking of the year.