With the Pac-10 Championships just a week away, the
Bruins’ muddled roster appears to be clearing up. With only
four runners, the UCLA men’s and women’s cross country
teams competed Friday at the Titan Invitational at Cal State
Fullerton. Senior Lori Mann showed she is fully recovered from a
quadricep injury that kept her out of the NCAA Pre-National
Invitational. Her time of 18:16 over the flat-and-fast 5,000 meter
course was good enough for ninth place overall and third-best among
the competing collegiate runners. “I’m impressed with
Lori’s ability to come back from injury and run strongly
today,” UCLA assistant coach Scott Abbott said. Also running
for the Bruins were senior Leslie Barrie, who finished in 17th
place overall with 18:44, and freshman Lauren Jirges, whose time of
19:16 put her in 30th place. In the men’s 8,000 meter race,
freshman Ryan Gordon was the Bruins’ lone representative,
coming across the line in 25:57, which was good enough for eighth
place among collegiate runners. Neither UCLA squad figured in the
final team standings, as they did not field complete teams.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL: The UCLA men’s
volleyball team defeated the alumni in four games 30-21, 30-26,
30-32, 30-24 Sunday afternoon in Pauley Pavilion. Redshirt junior
Damien Scott led the Bruins with 13 kills in three games of action.
Freshman Sean O’Malley and senior Paul George added 10 kills
each. In the fourth game, freshman Matt Wade replaced Gonzalez and
recorded 15 assists and two kills (.667). Sophomore libero Tony Ker
led both teams with 10 digs. Former All-American Matt Komer,
meanwhile, led the alumni team with 22 kills and had a .326 hitting
percentage.
WOMEN’S GOLF: A strong final round
propelled the UCLA women’s golf team to a second-place finish
at the Stanford Pepsi Intercollegiate Tournament. Sophomore Amie
Cochran led the Bruins with a four-round shot total of 212 (-1).
Freshman Jane Park made shot 214 (+1) for the tournament. Senior
Susie Mathews shot a 216 (+3) and junior Hannah Jun shot 219 (+6),
including a team-leading final round 69 (-2). UCLA ended up second
out of 18 teams for the tournament, finishing two strokes ahead of
third-place USC and 27 strokes behind first-place Duke.
MEN’S GOLF: The Bruins shot rounds of 284
(-4) and 296 (+8) Sunday and are eight strokes back of leader Wake
Forest University after the first day of competition at the
Isleworth-UCF Collegiate Invitational at Isleworth Country Club.
The Bruins’ top golfers were sophomores Kevin Chappell and
Brandon Christianson, who ranked 17th and 23rd, respectively. The
Bruins were required to play 36 holes on Sunday in preparation for
Hurricane Wilma, which is expected to hit the Florida Gulf Coast
today. The Bruins are playing in their fourth tournament this
season, and finished first in The Prestige at PGA West in La Quinta
last weekend.
Compiled by David Garcia, Bruin Sports reporter, and Bruin
Sports senior staff.