Just over a month from now, they are hoping to be in a different
position.
It will be the same setting and same atmosphere at the 2004 NCAA
Championships.
And in UCLA cross country coach Eric Peterson’s head,
hopefully both the men’s and women’s cross country
teams can gain some momentum after their admirable 13th place and
10th place showings, respectively, at the Pre-NCAA Cross Country
Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind. on Saturday.
In a year that the No. 25 women’s cross country team has
underachieved, Peterson was more than impressed with the
improvement the team made.
“This is the strongest, most complete team effort
we’ve had all season,” Peterson said.
Out of the 37 teams that competed, UCLA had two Bruins crack the
top-60, sophomores Ashley Caldwell and Alison Costello. Caldwell
finished 53rd with a time of 21:43.1. Costello crossed the finish
line just behind Caldwell at 21:44.6, good enough for 56th.
Along with the finishes of his two best runners, Peterson was
also pleased with how the younger runners came out and contributed
to the team, with four runners making their way into the
top-100.
“With just a 24-second spread between our first and fifth
runners, this was a very strong team effort that created a result
that was much better than last week’s at Notre Dame,”
Peterson said. “This is an important race, and it’s
good to see Ashley Caldwell once again at the front of our team.
She’s always been a good big-meet performer.”
Despite last weekend’s performance, Peterson has harped on
about how the two sophomores need to be more of a factor if the
Bruins are to make a late season push.
“We took some steps forward today, but we still need our
front runners to create more momentum for the rest of the
team,” Peterson said. “In the early stages of the race
they need to run more aggressively and hold it throughout the race.
That will make a dramatic difference in our team
results.”
On the men’s side, Peterson felt his unranked team that
finished 13th in a field of 35 teams also moved in the right
direction.
Leading the way was senior Jon Rankin, who placed 21st out of a
field of 242 runners with a time of 24:26.7.
“The men ran much better today than we have all
season,” Peterson said. “Jon once again did a great job
leading the team.
“We need his leadership for us to be
successful.”
Two runners also finished in the top-50 on the men’s side.
After coming back from a stress fracture, sophomore Austin Ramos
placed 43rd with a time of 24:47.4. Senior Erik Emilsson finished
47th with a time of 24:51.5.
In both the men’s and women’s meet, Stanford
finished first.