The Bruins came into the NCAA Championship meet with wide eyes
and big hopes, but they left with the taste of disappointment.
The precocious men’s cross country team competed in the
NCAA Championships on Monday, finishing 23rd out of 31 teams.
Though the Bruins were not on anyone’s list to make it this
far into the postseason, the team still feels like they could have
accomplished more.
“You can’t really be thrilled with 23rd
place,” junior Kyle Shackleton said. “We were aiming
for a top-20 finish.”
Most unranked teams with no seniors and no national championship
experience would be ecstatic to simply make it to this meet, but
the Bruins had hoped for better results than finishing in the
bottom third of the best teams in the country. The sub-40-degree
weather and muddy 10,000-meter course in Terre Haute, Ind., played
a large role in hindering the team’s ability to run as a
group, which had been their strength all season.
“We knew that if we had to absorb high scores, we would be
in trouble,” coach Eric Peterson said. “Unfortunately,
we were unable to duplicate the type of team running that we have
displayed all season long.”
While the front of the lineup performed admirably, with the
Shackleton twins leading the way (58th, 32:04 and 85th, 32:26), the
team’s other top runners failed to keep pace as Laef Barnes
and Michael Haddan finished outside of the top 200 (201st, 33:45
and 208th 33:49). Without the contributions of those two runners,
the Bruins had a tough time replicating the success they showed in
the weeks leading up to the race.
“If you put (Barnes and Haddan) where they usually finish,
we’d probably finish in the top 12,” Shackleton said.
“But we did our best to pick up the slack.”
Lost in the team’s finish was the performance by freshman
Marlon Patterson who stepped up admirably (150th, 33:03) in the
absence of the other two runners.
“Marlon had an amazing race today,” Peterson said.
“To run that well at this high of a level as a freshman is a
tremendous accomplishment.”
With no runners leaving and the addition of All-American Austin
Ramos, who will be coming back from a redshirt season, Peterson
feels this year’s team has taken the first step in building a
cross country power, something the school has not been known for
since the ’80s.
“I tell these guys that they are going to have the ability
to be a top-10 team,” Peterson said. “No one expected
for us to be at this level so soon, so the fact that we did make it
here speaks volumes about where this program is headed, and we are
excited.”