Just a season ago, the men’s cross country squad was full
of young, inexperienced runners. Now, a year later, the team finds
itself in the exact same position. The 2006 team comes into this
season with a lot of potential and also many questions to be
answered. Anchored by the nation’s fifth-best recruiting
class, the Bruins have no lack of depth; the team’s real
challenge will be finding leadership.
UCLA was in a similar position last season, having lost senior
star Jon Rankin to graduation. As the team looked for consistency,
then-junior Austin Ramos stepped up to the challenge, becoming
UCLA’s second All-American in as many years. However, even
after completely recovering from an injury he sustained during this
year’s outdoor track season, the coaching staff has decided
to use the senior’s redshirt year in an attempt to ensure
that Ramos, who has yet to have an injury-free track season, will
be able to compete at full strength in the spring. The move, which
will give Ramos the time to train appropriately to prevent any
additional serious injuries, leaves the team without a clear-cut
top runner once again.
“We are trying to get Austin to a point where he can
handle long periods of training and be able to stay in good
health,” coach Eric Peterson said. “We would love to
have him this year. Obviously it is hard to replace someone of
Austin’s caliber, but we decided that this would be the best
route.”
Though the decision to redshirt Ramos was difficult, Peterson
was comforted by the fact that he has a strong core of runners who
should be able to step up in place of the All-American.
The runner most likely to emerge from the pack as the
team’s go-to athlete should be junior Michael Haddan. Haddan
had an up-and-down season in 2005, which reached its peak when he
came out of nowhere to earn All-Pac-10 honors with a sixth-place
finish at the conference championships. Now, with the knowledge
that he is capable of big-time performances, Haddan will be called
upon to step into Ramos’ shoes.
“The challenge Mike has had in the past is being able to
run consistently at a high level,” Peterson said. “He
has shown tremendous potential, which is evident in his finish at
the Pac-10 meet just last year.”
Behind Haddan is Laef Barnes, the highly touted sophomore out of
Washington. Barnes has already proven himself as a valuable runner,
finishing as the team’s top runner in the season-opening
dual-meet victory over UC Riverside. Rounding out the top of the
team will be the Shackleton brothers, junior Kyle and redshirt
sophomore Drew,
“The level of improvement I have seen with our returning
athletes has been so strong that I feel that we are able to make
this decision with Austin, while still being able to improve as a
team,” Peterson said.
The Bruins also welcome the state’s top distance
recruiting class, although top freshman Scott Crawford, a more
natural middle-distance runner, will use his redshirt year to ready
himself for the track season. Still, the team’s freshmen
bring much-needed depth to the Bruins.
Led by Marlon Patterson, Alex Crabill, Kevin Sullivan and Jake
Matthews, the freshmen will look to bring up the rear of this
team’s very young lineup.
“We are expecting these guys to immediately contribute to
the depth of our team and improve our scoring position as
well,” Peterson said. “We feel like we are deeper than
in recent years and just better as well.”
While competing in the Pac-10, UCLA will have plenty of
challenges as the conference features four of the nations top-20
teams in Stanford, Arizona, Oregon and Arizona State. The team
welcomes the challenge to build itself into an elite program, as
the Bruins have not qualified for the NCAA Championships since
1985.
“It has been a long time (since we have gotten to the NCAA
Championships),” Peterson said. “But these guys are
committed and driven to change that result, and I can honestly say
that I am more excited now than I ever have been in my seven years
here coaching the men about putting this team into
competition.”