By Dylan Hernandez
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Christina Bowen and Bryan Green felt like eskimos whose igloos
had been smashed to pieces in dead winter.
For the two runners representing the UCLA cross country program
at the NCAA Championships Monday morning in Ames, Iowa, racing in
the national meet provided them with plenty of new experiences.
“Oh God,” said Bowen, who finished 70th in the
women’s competition. “It was cold. It was so
awful.”
“It was a little colder than my standard practice,”
said Green, who came in 121st in the men’s race.
He paused, then started again: “Okay, it was freezing. My
face stung and my lungs hurt when I breathed.”
While 20-degree weather and a minus-19 windchill factor were the
same for everyone, the two Bruins had particular trouble adjusting
since they have both lived their entire lives in California.
“Even when it’s raining, I’m never going to
complain about the weather in California again,” Bowen
said.
Bowen, a fifth-year senior who qualified for the meet by coming
in 10th at the West Regionals, shot out aggressively at the
gun.
In the early going, she was in the lead pack, which also
consisted of 1999 individual champion Erica Palmer of Wisconsin and
Sabrina Morno of Wyoming. Pre-race favorite Kara Grgas-Wheeler of
Colorado was a few paces behind.
But just 1200 meters into the four-kilometer race, Bowen felt
her upper body stiffen.
“My body froze,” she said.
She was still in fourth place at the mile marker (5:31), but for
the remainder the race, she saw runners speed past her one by
one.
“I realized how good these runners were,” Bowen
said. “They’re hard-core. I was ready physically, but
mentally, I probably wasn’t.”
Grgas-Wheeler was the first of those runners to hit the tape,
crossing the finish line at 20:30.5.
Monro (20:37.8), with the surprise performance of the meet,
outkicked Palmer (20:39.9) to come in second. The Pac-10’s
top placer, Lisa Aguilera of Arizona State (20:46.3), placed
fifth.
Bowen was 70th at 21:43.3.
Colorado was the team champion, tallying 117 points. Brigham
Young and Stanford followed with 167 and 198 points,
respectively.
In the men’s race that followed, Green also felt he was
defeated mentally.
He began rather well, sitting at around 70th for the first two
miles. Then the real running started, as Georgetown freshman
Franklyn Sanchez made the first move of the contest.
Green, who had planned to start moving up after the third mile,
allowed several runners to pass him. But when it came time to make
his push, Green’s body didn’t respond.
Facing a wind coming in at 35 miles per hour, Green had trouble
moving around those who were ahead of him.
“I was getting frustrated,” Green said. “I
wasn’t able to move at all. “I started thinking about
the weather and I lost my focus.”
With a mile remaining in the 10k, Green was back in 130th place.
He did, however, run the last 600 meters well enough to come in
121th at 31:54.5.
“As much as I’ve improved this year, I wasn’t
ready to compete with these runners in this environment,”
Green said. “I need to learn how to go out and attack a race
like that.”
Meanwhile, up at the front of the race, Keith Kelly of
Providence (30:14.5) outran Farleigh Dickson’s Stephen
Ondieki (30:16.3) in the final stretch to capture the individual
crown. Colorado’s Jorge Torres (30:21.4), winner of the
pre-NCAA meet, closed strongly to surge past defending champion
David Kimani of Alabama (30:21.6) for third. Sanchez, the top
freshman in the race, was fifth in 30:26.9.
In the team competition, No. 3 Arkansas defended the title it
won last year to upset No. 1 Colorado. Although the Razorbacks had
no runners in the top 10, only 20 seconds separated their five
scorers, who all placed 34th or better.