Category Archives: Cross Country

For many on the men’s and women’s cross country teams, the season still has that new “fresh car smell.”

The UCLA men’s and women’s cross country teams started and ended their seasons on similar notes.

Both started the season strong, with the men finishing first in their first two events and the women second in theirs.

However, through the bulk of the season, both teams had experiences on opposite ends of the spectrum.

As the season progressed the men stayed consistent, never finishing lower than 14th, while the women experienced finishes anywhere from 43rd to second leading into the postseason.

In the NCAA West Regional, the two teams finished similarly again, but unlike the beginning of the season, the Bruins weren’t standing atop the event podiums.

Two top-25 finishes were not enough to advance the men to the NCAA Championship.

Likewise, the women were unable to secure a berth in the NCAA Championship as their top runner, rising redshirt senior Katja Goldring, finished 44th in the regional.

Although both teams were not in the running as long as they would have hoped last season, there’s reason to believe they can go the distance this fall.

The top men’s runner is gone, but talent remains with rising juniors Nohe Lema and Dustin Fay, both of whom were often among the team’s top finishers last season.

The women return nearly their entire 2011 roster.

Both teams will have an opportunity to rid themselves of the bad taste they finished last season with when they travel to Reno, Nev.

“Bittersweet is not the right word,” redshirt senior Kent Morikawa said. “It’s …”

His voice trailed away and escaped him, a lump forming in his throat.

For in the world of cross country in which runners are judged by the smallest seconds, the fastest times and the quickest mile pace, time seemed to stop as Morikawa faced the uncomfortable realization that the results from Saturday’s race really did happen.