If there is anything readily identifiable in the current Bruin cross country team, it is determination.
This past weekend, a team stricken with sore throats, chills, fevers and all the nastiness of the flu bravely battled the cold and rain in South Bend, Ind., at the Notre Dame Invitational.
Redshirt junior Jake Matthews ran with the fever.
So did freshman Heather Balbier and redshirt junior Kelcie Wiemann.
But the Bruins’ determination was anything but under the weather.
Perhaps the race of the day came from redshirt junior Rosa Magana. After losing a shoe in the first 200 meters, she finished third on the squad, completing the three-mile course in 18:14.
Yet all of this conceded only one statement: There is room for improvement.
With nationally ranked teams congregating at the Notre Dame Invitational, the UCLA men’s team finished 11th, while the women’s team finished 17th.
Washington, whose women’s team is top-ranked in the nation, took the first four slots on the women’s side and squeezed by Providence College on the men’s side.
“We’re not satisfied where we are as a team ““ there is so much room for improvement, which is actually pretty scary,” said Forest Braden, UCLA assistant coach. “Looking at what Washington had and looking at how they packed it in there to win the race, we could be right there with them.”
Seniors Marlon Patterson (24:14, 17th) and Marco Anzures (24:16, 20th) led the Bruins in the absence of fellow senior Alex Crabill, who was bed-ridden with the flu.
With three races completed, the men’s team has had three different runners cross the line first, ushering in healthy competition.
“The parity is great,” Braden said. “We’ve have been working well together, and I think we’re starting to see that; it’s starting to sink in the last couple of weeks.”
Junior Shannon Murakami again led the women’s side for UCLA, finishing in 17:26. But she also noted there were areas that needed to be fixed.
“We got off the line slowly, and we were making up the time we lost as the race went on,” Murakami said.
With the team running together every day in practice, it seems that a women’s team so tattered from previous tumultuous seasons discovered a certain determination and a new positive vibe.
“If we are healthy, we are right in the mix,” Braden said. “We are taking positive steps ““ we are still a long way out but we’re definitely going in the right direction.”
For Braden, it’s the kind of toughness and determination that he has been trying to instill in them.
“That’s what cross country is all about. Everyone knows what each other is going through,” Braden said.
“There’s a lot of work and a lot of pain out there at times but everyone realizes that, and we come together and rally as a team.”