The Big Wave Classic in Hawaii this Saturday was a double win for the Bruins. Both the men’s and women’s teams came home with the top spot.
This was the men’s second win in a row. They took the title by capturing the top nine finishing spots.
“I put the challenge to them to do their best, to sweep those top nine spots in the race,” coach Eric Peterson said. “You don’t really have too many opportunities as a team to do that and I felt we had a team that was strong enough to do that.”
With a heavy focus on the team aspect this year, Peterson was extremely pleased that there was only a 27-second difference between the first Bruin finisher and the ninth Bruin finisher.
“The 27-second gap is really what we want to stay focused on and celebrate,” Peterson said.
Finishing first was senior Laef Barnes with a time of 15:12.16, followed closely by redshirt senior Drew Shackleton (15:14.19), junior Alex Crabill (15:17.82), junior Marlon Patterson (15:22.43) and junior Marco Anzures (15:25.90).
This was also the first appearance for Barnes and redshirt seniors Shackleton and Mike Haddan. Peterson said this team, with three seniors, has a lot of experience.
“Every team needs older guys on the team that are confident and can help calm the nerves of younger guys who are just getting their feet wet,” Peterson said. “They do a great job of that.”
The women’s team also took the top spot, with five finishers in the top 10, and three in the top five.
“I’m excited about the improvement from the Irvine meet,” Peterson said. “We’ve had a great preseason.”
Leading the way for the Bruins again this week was freshman Katja Goldring who placed first in a time of 14:37.50.
“She has been just a wonderful addition to our team,” Peterson said. “She loves to run and is a very serious distance runner and has a bright future in front of her.”
Also finishing in scoring positions were sophomore Shannon Murakami who took second (14:39.89) and freshman Sadee Martinez who took fifth (14:51.30).
Unlike the men’s team, the women’s team is very young. Junior Lauren Jirges is the only upperclassman competing for the Bruins.
But Peterson is not worried about this and says there is a great team dynamic.
“In cross country, it takes five runners to produce a team score,” Peterson said. “Some teams have only one outstanding runner. We want a strong team at UCLA, a group of people.”
Peterson said the race strategy has been to have redshirt sophomore Kelcie Wiemann set the pace for the first mile, and it has worked out well for the past two races.
The women look to continue improving in the upcoming weeks, but Peterson was pleased with a top performance and more experience for his young squad.
The upcoming meet at Stanford marks the end of the preseason for both teams.
With the beginning of the scoring season, both teams will be looking for strong performances.