Monday, September 22, 1997 Great potential remains to be tested
INTERVIEW: Skills of team members to be tried at upcoming meets
By Jared Hummel
Daily Bruin Contributor
UCLA women’s cross country head coach Eric Peterson has high
expectations these days.
"I think that for the first time since I’ve been here this is a
team that can realistically expect to qualify for the national
championships," Peterson said.
This year his team is composed of mostly sophomores. A team
which, unlike last year, now has some collegiate-level
experience.
"I’m optimistic – we have high hopes coming into the season –
we’re young and we’re talented," Peterson said.
This year’s team returns six of its top seven runners from 1996
where it finished fourth in the Pac-10 Championship meet and fifth
at the NCAA District VIII meet. Their roster lost only two runners,
one to graduation and one to injury.
Last year’s No. 2 runner, Githa Hampson, has graduated, and
Molly Mehlberg has recently suffered two stress fractures and has
had knee surgery during the off-season.
Leading the Bruins will once again be sophomore Kim Mortensen
who is coming off a very impressive freshman season in which she
placed first in races at the Aztec and Tennessee Invitationals. She
also won the Stanford Invitational and finished second at the NCAA
preview and Pac-10 Championships.
The nation’s top prep distance runner in 1996 has recovered from
a hamstring injury which had forced her to redshirt during spring
track season. However, as coach Peterson said, "Her best days are
in front of her."
Katherina Kechris will fill the No. 2 spot and is the only
senior on the team.
"She is probably the most improved athlete that I’ve ever worked
with," Peterson said.
Kechris had a breakthrough season last spring. In track she ran
personal bests in the 3,000 meters and the 5,000m with times which
placed her seventh and fourth, respectively, in the UCLA record
books.
Peterson is so impressed by his top two runners that he likened
them to two former Bruin All-Americans.
"That 1-2 punch of Mortensen and Kechris is as strong of a 1-2
punch as this program has had in the time that I’ve been here,
that’s including (Karen) Hecox and (Beth) Bartholomew," Peterson
said.
The remaining six spots are wide open – which suits Peterson
just fine. Without an established order, each runner must remain
competitive in order to secure themselves a spot. As Peterson puts
it, "a competitive environment is a productive environment."
Sophomores Kara Barnard, Melinda George, Tina Bowen and redshirt
freshman Kelly Cohn are returning this year and should, along with
newcomers Julie Ott from San Diego and Katie Nuanes from Santa Ana,
fill up the remaining six spots.
The optimism over this team’s chances this season stem from the
year of collegiate experience which this year’s sophomores now
have. Bowen, George and Barnard were in the Bruins’ top seven last
year as freshmen.
If last year’s squad managed to finish fourth in the Pac-10 led
by freshmen, one can only wonder what they can do with some
experience.
Freshmen Ott and Nuanes will break into the collegiate level
with notable high school accomplishments. Nuanes is a two-time Foot
Locker national finalist while Ott was the San Diego Tribune
Athlete of the Year .
Despite the great abundance of potential on this year’s team,
the fact still remains that this is a team that is, as of yet,
unproven. Nobody understands this better than Peterson.
"It’s time for us to race right now to see where we’re really at
– we need to be tested," Peterson said.
The UCLA women’s cross country team will indeed be tested right
from the start as they travel to Huntington Beach for the UC Irvine
Invitational where they will face Arkansas, a preseason No. 11
team, and Northern Arizona, a preseason No. 10.
It appears as if all the talent is in place for a solid season;
now it’s just a matter of waiting to see if this young squad is up
for the challenges that they will be facing as they compete in a
Pac-10 conference which features the preseason No. 1 and defending
national champion Stanford team.