Prior to this season, Ashley Caldwell thought of herself as a
track athlete, not a cross country runner.
Even now, Caldwell makes the same assertion.
“I am not a cross country runner,” she says.
But though track may be her specialty, Caldwell certainly seems
to be proving she is more than just a one-sport athlete.
In the span of a single season, Caldwell, a redshirt freshman,
has transformed herself from a middle-distance track standout into
a solid cross country runner with All-American aspirations.
And nobody is more surprised than Caldwell, who admits she
thought of cross country merely as a way of training for track
season.
“I did not like it at first at all,” Caldwell said.
“Thinking about running more than two laps around the track
was … oh my gosh!”
This lack of enthusiasm toward the sport was reflected in her
performance.
“She was so far behind last year that we redshirted
her,” coach Eric Peterson said. “I wasn’t even
going to put her out there.”
During the summer, Caldwell was not even considered part of the
core cross country team. She practiced with the middle-distance
track runners and left summer training in Mammoth a week earlier
than the cross country women.
However, Caldwell burst onto the cross country scene at the
Stanford Invitational on Sept. 27, where she ran the 6000m for the
first time.
In front of family and friends, who were surprised that she was
even running, Caldwell finished a solid 10th in 21:41, the fourth
Bruin to cross the line.
“My teammates were like, “˜What happened? Where did
you come from?’ It was so nice to surprise everybody,”
Caldwell said.
She led the team at the Big Wave Invitation in Hawaii, a race
she was not even scheduled to participate in at the beginning of
the season because she was not a part of the core team.
Caldwell credits her experience of running the 800m in track as
being the main factor in her success this season.
“At 1200m to go, I am able to accelerate to the
finish,” Caldwell said. “That’s where I pass the
most people and where my middle distance comes into
play.”
Being able to channel her competitive nature into running has
also improved her performance.
“I pick out two or three girls who beat me from the last
race,” she said. “I set them out as my bait.”
Despite the dramatic turn-around from last year, Caldwell is
still a freshman, and that means there is room for improvement. At
this point in the season, with her coach calling her one of the
best freshmen in the country, Caldwell claims she is still learning
the ropes.
“With every race I feel a little more comfortable with
running,” Caldwell said. “But I have to learn a lot
more about it to run up to my full potential.”
In order to facilitate this learning, she has her coaches
running alongside her yelling advice throughout the course. Still,
she has had her mishaps.
“I’ve miscounted the miles before,” Caldwell
said. “I’ve miscounted on how far I’ve
gone.”
But as her confidence continues to grow, her times are steadily
decreasing. From 21:41, she has whittled her time down to 20:50 and
is consistently one of the top three Bruin finishers.
This is good news for UCLA, who will compete in the NCAA
Championships this Monday in Iowa.
“She’s turning into an extremely reliable
athlete,” Peterson said. “Those are things you
can’t measure.”
With the support of her team and coaches, Caldwell has come to
revel in her “new” sport.
“I love cross country,” Caldwell said.
And then she paused.
“Wow, I can’t believe these words coming out of my
mouth.”