The UCLA women’s cross country team had high hopes heading
into Arizona, but those hopes were dashed when two runners
couldn’t finish the race.
UCLA finished this weekend’s Pac-10 Championships in a
sixth place, leaving their NCAA championship aspirations in doubt.
The team was looking to finish as high as third, but injuries
hampered the Bruins’ effort. Freshman Ciara Viehweg did not
finish the race, and freshman Lindsay delaMontaigne, who appeared
to be suffering from a lingering case of mononucleosis, dropped out
at after 5,000 meters and was taken to the hospital.
The severity of delaMontaigne’s illness was not
immediately available, but UCLA coach Eric Peterson believes she
may be out for the rest of the year.
“We don’t know what we are dealing with here,”
Peterson said. “We are having some tests done, but she will
not compete again until we find out.”
Peterson was relieved his runner didn’t suffer a serious
injury, but knew that without her, the team could not perform at
their peak.
“We were expecting a higher place finish than
sixth,” Peterson said. “But we were also expecting a
lot more out of the freshmen than what we got.”
Junior Ashley Caldwell overshadowed any unfortunate news with a
fourth-place finish with a time of 20:55. Caldwell’s run
earned her first team All-Pac-10 cross country honors, the first of
her career.
“I’m extremely proud of Ashley’s
efforts,” Peterson said. “She ran tough, she competed
right from the gun and she wasn’t out there trying to run
safely; she was out there trying to win the race.”
The individual winner of the race was Stanford’s Arianna
Lambie with a time of 20:20. The Cardinal also came away with the
team title.
The men’s team received phenomenal races from its top two
athletes, but were unable to overtake a bevy of talented conference
rivals. UCLA finished seventh in a hotly contested meet where only
30 points separated third and seventh place.
Leading the way for the Bruin squad was junior Austin Ramos, who
finished in fifth with a time of 24:23. The real surprise of the
day came from sophomore Michael Haddan, who finished just one
second behind Ramos in sixth place.
“This was the race of Mike’s life,” Peterson
said. “I was expecting him to be good … was hoping that he
could finish in the top 20, but I had no idea that he was ready to
finish in the top six.”
Ramos and Haddan both received first team All-Pac-10 cross
country honors, but the rest of the lineup did not fare as well.
Hoping to finish third, the Bruins instead came in behind Stanford,
Arizona, Cal, Washington, Arizona State and Oregon.