Friday, November 15, 1996
By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Contributor
Everything that both the men’s and women’s cross country teams
have worked for could come to a close this weekend.
It may seem unfair that the effort put forth all season by the
Bruin runners will solely be judged on their performance at the
District VIII meet in Fresno, but that’s how the NCAA pares its
championship field down to 22 runners.
The Bruins need a stellar performance to qualify for the NCAA
Championships in Arizona on Nov. 25. As UCLA women’s cross country
coach Eric Peterson puts it:
"[The selection committee] wants the best teams in the nation.
Period."
Exactly.
Now, how does all of this affect the UCLA cross country teams?
Well, it will allow the women to have a better chance of qualifying
as a team than the men.
The women’s cross country team is ranked fourth-best among the
teams running at the District VIII meet. Ahead of them is only No.
2 Stanford, No. 11 Washington and No. 16 Arizona. This means that
the Bruin women, ranked 23rd in the nation, will probably have to
rely on an at-large bid if they are to qualify for the NCAA
Championships. And even an at-large bid won’t come easy.
"It’s naive that any of us (start) thinking that we deserve an
at-large bid. We need to beat a strong team … We need to beat
somebody," Peterson said.
Peterson believes that although Washington is ranked ahead of
Arizona, the Huskies are the team which the Bruins must take aim to
defeat. He thinks the Bruins need their best race of the season to
surpass Washington and finish third.
The Bruin men need an equally inspired effort. The men face an
almost insurmountable task ahead of them.
The men’s field will include No. 2 Stanford, No. 5 Portland and
No. 6 Oregon. While the women might qualify to the NCAA
Championships with a fourth-place finish, the men must defeat one
of three top six teams in the nation in order to advance past this
Saturday.
"They’ll have to run the best race of the year to qualify,"
men’s cross country coach Bob Larsen said.
With the chance of not qualifying for the NCAA Championships
looming, Larsen’s strategy is to be more aggressive, knowing that
even if they tire out, attacking the top three teams is the only
way to keep the season going.
"Fourth place won’t get you into the NCAAs," Larsen explained.
"We have to take some chances."