PASADENA — There were a few oddities about Thursday’s cross country dual meet between UCLA, USC and Cal Poly Pomona.
First: It was UCLA’s lone “home” meet of the season, yet the team was a bit out of its element.
“We’ve never practiced at (the Rose Bowl golf course) – ever,” said coach Forest Braden, adding that the last time his team raced there was in the same event last year.
Second: It was the lone meeting between UCLA and crosstown-rival USC this year. Yet, Braden called it a “low-key” meet and said that there were “bigger” races this season.
The unusually lax matchup between UCLA and USC ended with the Trojans just edging the Bruins in the women’s 5k, 27-28. The UCLA men’s cross country team didn’t face USC, but thoroughly defeated Cal Poly Pomona, 18-37, in the 8k – its lone competition of the day.
Though it may not have garnered the usual hype of a UCLA-USC matchup at the Rose Bowl, the Bruin women’s race against the Trojans did end up with the kind of down-to-the-wire finish that suits the rivalry matchup.
UCLA was getting “crushed” by USC, Braden said, until the last 800 meters of the race – when junior Kelly Brooks bolted ahead of several competitors.
“(Brooks) especially was that spark,” Braden said. “(She) passed about four or five girls and she was moving, and she really got us back into it.”
Despite Brooks’ late surge, Braden said that a counter-surge by the Trojans near the finish line was the difference.
Brooks, who finished eighth, was one of four Bruins to finish in the top 10 against the Trojans, with freshman Valerie Morrison placing highest at second overall with a time of 17:43.
“(The course) was very fast because it was flat and we went out really fast,” Morrison said. “I wouldn’t necessarily say this was the best race … (but) since I’ve only run one fast course, I guess this would be my best one.”
Morrison said that considering how fast she started, the most difficult part of the race was pacing herself and finishing strong at the end. The Bruin who finished second place overall on the men’s side – redshirt freshman Max Davis – shared similar sentiments.
Davis said that in the first half of the Rose Bowl trail, there is a slight uphill, followed by a slight downhill in the second half. He said this up-and-down terrain was subtle enough to where it wasn’t noticeable in the beginning, but became more noticeable as the race lingered and fatigue set in.
“In the beginning, you don’t really feel it,” Davis said. “But in the end you start getting tired you start hurting – that’s when you kind of start noticing the uphill and the downhill.”
While it may not have had the “feel” of a typical UCLA-USC rivalry matchup, Braden said the big competition is still to come.
“We’re … looking forward to Wisconsin in a week – and that’s going to be a big test for us,” Braden said. “Wisconsin … that’s really what we need to focus on right now.”