Today, the stage is set for the start of the cross-country postseason. The Bruins will travel to Eugene, Ore., to compete in the Pac-10 Championships.
The No. 13 men’s team has hopes for a top three finish, but in a conference with four other teams ranked nationally, placing high will not be easy.
“For us, we have literally the two top-ranked teams in the nation. So, naturally, it’s a lot different for us,” redshirt senior Drew Shackleton said.
Those teams come in the form of No. 1 Oregon and No. 2 Stanford. In addition, Washington and California are tied at No. 24, so the Bruins will have their work cut out for them.
Part of UCLA’s strategy this weekend will be aggression. Shackleton said that both Oregon and Stanford go out hard very early in the race, so to be competitive with these teams the Bruins will look to do something similar.
Coming into the Pac-10 Championships with their highest ranking ever under coach Eric Peterson, expectations are high.
“We are getting ourselves into postseason mode and beating teams ranked ahead of us,” Shackleton said. “We are looking forward, not backwards.”
The success of the team this season has been due in part to the focus of running as a team, something Peterson has stressed all season. It has been important for the UCLA team to stay together in its races, and it will look to challenge the top teams with this strategy.
Even after losing their top two runners from the previous year, the Bruins have bounced back with an even stronger 2008 campaign.
According to players and coaches, the success has been due to the entire team stepping up, not just one or two individuals.
“Everyone knew they had a really important role on the team to get to nationals,” Shackleton said. “The responsibility that they put on themselves made us all better because we knew we didn’t have room for error. Everyone, from one to seven, had to be at their best at every single race to be competitive.”
Shackleton, who has remained in either the No. 1 or 2 spot this year, credits other team members for the team’s high finishes.
“Marlon (Patterson) and Kent (Morikawa) are two of the most improved runners in the program, and Marco (Anzures) and Alex (Crabill) pushing them along is really helpful,” Shackleton said.
On the women’s side, the competition will be just as fierce, with four nationally ranked teams in the conference, including No. 1 Washington, No. 2 Oregon, No. 15 Arizona State and No. 18 Stanford.
Sophomore Shannon Murakami said the team is generally healthy once again after struggling with illnesses. One major exception is freshman standout Katja Goldring who is recovering after being sick.
The Pac-10 Championships are important for the women’s team because it will act as a sort of gauge.
“Going into the postseason, this is the first step of all the big meets,” Murakami said. “It kind of shows you where you’ll be going into postseason, and I know all the girls are stoked to go out and do what we do best.”
The team is optimistic about a strong finish and has its sights set on topping all the teams that are not nationally ranked.
“Oregon State, the University of Arizona, Washington State, USC, Cal ““ we are a better team than all those teams. This is just the meet that we have to do it,” Murakami said.
ON HIS OWN: The New York City Marathon will take place on Sunday, and redshirt senior Kyle Shackleton will be there competing.
Shackleton was one of the top cross-country runners for the Bruins last year and will return for his last season of track eligibility next year. He used up his cross-country eligibility and spent his offseason time training for the marathon.