The UCLA women’s cross country team finished off its
season the same way it has been running all year long ““ as a
pack unable to make ground on the leader. The Bruins finished 27
out of 31 teams Monday at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute,
Ind. As usual, the team had its top five runners all within a small
margin of each other. But UCLA’s top runner, sophomore Ashley
Caldwell, came across the 6000 meter course in 98th place. “I
honestly felt that we ran a fairly typical race, given the kind of
season that we’ve had,” coach Eric Peterson said.
“We had a little bit stronger of a performance at the front,
but it wasn’t far enough out there to change the way our team
has been performing as a group this season.” Though the
unranked Bruins did defeat a few ranked teams, they were still
unable to make up any ground on Washington and Idaho, two teams
Peterson had hoped to defeat after narrowly losing to both squads
last week at the West Region Championships. “We beat a couple
teams maybe we weren’t necessarily supposed to beat,”
Peterson said. “But we still weren’t able to get in
front of teams I was looking to compete a little better against,
namely Washington and Idaho, who were between 20th and 25th place.
On a strong day, that’s where we would’ve been, but it
didn’t happen.”
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY: Senior Jon Rankin
knew going into the race that a top-25 finish at the NCAA
Championships would secure an All-American award, so when he
finished in 39th place, he was somewhat disappointed. But he
received a pleasant surprise at the awards ceremony. Rankin became
UCLA’s first All-American in six years because, as it turns
out, the NCAA throws out all foreign-born runners when they hand
out the All-American awards. It was not until Rankin finished the
10,000 meter race in a time of 31:49 that coach Eric Peterson
explained to him that he was still very much eligible to receive
the prestigious honor. “I was surprised,” Rankin said.
“During the race, people were yelling at me, “˜You have
a good chance at getting All-American,’ and I didn’t
understand what they were saying, given my position, but it
definitely kept me motivated to maintain my position and finish in
the top 40. I didn’t know that that was going to get me an
All-American.” Early in the race, Rankin found himself
shoulder to shoulder with the lead runners. “I was really
aggressive in the beginning, maybe a little too aggressive,”
Rankin said. “After a mile, I tried settling into the top 15,
but after you settle in, that’s when people start going
around you, passing, fighting and pushing. The first couple miles
were really bumpy with so much going on.” Eventually, Rankin
would battle his way into the top 40, earning him the All-American
award. The honor caps off a phenomenal season by Rankin in which he
earned All-Pac-10 and All-West Region honors. He also led the
men’s team to fourth place at the West Region Championship,
the team’s best finish in Peterson’s tenure as the
men’s coach. “One of the reasons he has been working so
hard is that he wanted to test his own personal toughness,”
Peterson said. “There’s nothing harder in this sport
than having a 10,000-meter race in front of you and going out chest
to chest with the leaders. “Jon is running as well as anyone
in America, and he is showing that toughness. He did it again today
and was able to hang on and represent UCLA well.”