M. CROSS COUNTRY All Weekend Pac-10
Championships Palo Alto
UCLA has faced some tough squads this year, but Saturday just
might be its biggest test yet.
The men’s cross country team will compete in the Pac-10
Championships this Saturday in Palo Alto. Although the team has had
a good year up until this point, this particular conference race,
which boasts five of the nation’s top 30 cross country teams,
will be a true test for this young Bruin squad.
“This is one of the deepest men’s races I have ever
seen in my 14 years of coaching here,” coach Eric Peterson
said. “The level of quality this season has been amazing not
only in the Pac-10, but in the Western Region as a
whole.”
Coming off a successful race at the Pre-NCAA Invitational in
Terre Haute, Ind., the Bruins have a lot of momentum behind them
heading into this weekend.
But if the team hopes to be running in the highly competitive
NCAA Championships, it will need to turn that momentum into even
greater success against some of the nation’s best cross
country teams.
“Our top four guys have been running very
consistently,” Peterson said. “I do feel that we have
some amount of momentum going into Saturday, but at the same time
we still need to prove that we can do a little more in order to
compete amongst the elite teams in our conference.”
With the top two guaranteed spots in the West Region almost
assuredly going to traditional powerhouses Stanford and Oregon, the
Bruins have their work cut out for them to try to muscle their way
into receiving an at-large bid.
Up to this point, the men have had a good amount of success all
season, with a few significant victories over higher-ranked
opponents as junior Kyle Shackleton emerged as the team’s
go-to runner. However, they will need to step up their performances
even more to stand out in the eyes of the committee members in this
crowded West Region. In particular, the team will need one of its
first-years to step into the spotlight as the team’s fifth
runner. In Peterson’s eyes, that freshman is likely to be
Marlon Patterson, who has been on the cusp of a breakout race.
During the team’s last competition, Patterson looked
poised to deliver the long-awaited standout performance, but
halfway through the course he was tripped up, which ultimately
hindered his race.
Nevertheless, the cross country team will need Patterson and his
fellow freshmen to run their personal bests in order for the team
to place high on Saturday.