The miles have been logged, the injuries endured and the
elements overcome.
And in a span of about 20 minutes, it all became worth it for
the UCLA women’s cross country team.
At the NCAA Championships in Waterloo, Iowa, the Bruins ran to a
seventh place finish behind the All-American performances of senior
Valerie Flores and redshirt freshman Ashley Caldwell.
“It is such a high caliber race,” Flores said.
“There is so much pressure on the line, but we’re such
a tough team.”
The Bruins finished with 293 points and were led by Flores, who
finished 20th in 20:28. Stanford won the meet with 120 points. The
individual title was won by University of North Carolina’s
Shalane Flanagan with a time of 19:30.
This is the highest finish for the Bruins in Eric
Peterson’s 10 years as coach. Until Monday, the Bruins had
not finished in the top 20 in over 20 years. Peterson was awarded
Western Regional’s Coach of the Year for the team’s
success.
“This is our business,” Peterson said.
“We’re in the business of setting goals that are lofty.
The girls were willing to accept the challenge.”
This is the first time that either Flores or Caldwell has
received All-American honors.
“Being All-American was such a distant hope for me,”
Caldwell said. “I was in shock.”
“I knew right from the very beginning that I had put
myself in a good position,”said Flores. “I have been
looking forward to this all year.”
Though the team has depended on solid performances from Flores
and Caldwell all season, senior Melissa McBain, the third Bruin to
cross the line, played an unexpectedly crucial role this meet.
“If we didn’t have Melissa, I don’t know where
we’d be today,” Flores said. “She had a huge
day.”
In her first national meet, aiming to finish in the top 100,
McBain raced to a 50th place finish with a time of 20:53.
The contribution came at an opportune time, as freshman Alison
Costello fell at the beginning of the race. With 251 girls jostling
for position, she tripped over the bumpy terrain and was trampled
by her fellow runners.
“My feelings at that moment (when Costello fell) were a
little shaky,” said Peterson. “The depth of our team
was tested.
It passed the test.
The Bruin’s scoring was rounded out by sophomore Jenna
Timinsky, who placed 14th with a time of 21:30.
“I’m so proud of our whole team,” said Flores.
“We’ve talked about Nationals for so long. We
definitely have represented UCLA well.
After training since the beginning of the summer for the cross
country season, the women finally get a break, but not a long one.
In two weeks, every member of the team will begin workouts to
prepare for the indoor track season.