Ashley Caldwell has always been considered as a potential top
national runner. On Saturday, she showed why.
Caldwell finished in eighth place in a star-studded field over
the weekend at the NCAA Pre-National meet in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Her effort paced the Bruins, who finished in 14th place out of 35
teams.
“It’s a great feeling to have ran well, and also
(to) know that I’m not completely run-out,” said
Caldwell, who mastered the course in a lifetime best of 20:29.
“I definitely think there are some things I can do to improve
my time.”
Caldwell’s performance highlights the season and sets up a
possible run for All-American honors at the NCAA championships in
November, held at the same course.
“This really puts her in a position to look toward the
postseason with a lot of confidence,” coach Eric Peterson
said.
Despite Caldwell’s performance, the rest of the UCLA team
struggled to overcome a bevy of untimely injuries. Senior Lori Mann
was a late scratch with a strained quadricep, leaving the Bruins
with only six runners. Moreover, freshman Lindsay Delamontaigne did
not finish the race, dropping out after suffering from heat
exhaustion.
Stepping up into the fourth and fifth spots were freshman Ciara
Viehweg and senior Sarah West.
Though the Bruins suffered a few setbacks, Peterson was very
pleased with what he saw from his regulars.
“We definitely got going again,” Peterson said.
“This is the kind of performance we expect to have in the
postseason.”
Keeping pace with the women, the men’s cross country team
was also led by a strong performance at the top.
Junior Austin Ramos finished 15th overall, leading UCLA to a
respectable 13th place in a field of 33 teams.
“He ran against a strong field and he did a nice job for
us,” Peterson said of Ramos, who finished with a time of
24:06.
Though the Bruins fell short of a top ten finish ““ their
set goal going into the weekend ““ the team was able to close
the gap on a few regional opponents. In 13th place, the Bruins
edged out Oregon and Arizona State, both of whom are currently
ranked ahead of UCLA, while nearly beating 11th-place Cal Poly,
ranked 10th in the country.
“We fell a little short of where we wanted to be this
week,” Peterson said.
“But we are making ground on some of those teams competing
ahead of us and gaining experience.”
The second and third spots in the lineup were ably filled by
sophomores Mike Haddan and Kyle Shackleton, who finished in 56th
and 58th place, respectively.
Freshman Laef Barnes, who returned to action after missing a
substantial amount of time due to a leg injury, finished in 126th
place overall and fourth on the squad in his second collegiate
race.