Monday, November 17, 1997
For the first time ever, a Bruin wins regionals
M. CROSS COUNTRY:
But the team misses fourth-place finish by 3 pointsBy Donald
Morrison
Daily Bruin Contributor
UCLA men’s cross-country runner Mebrahtom Keflezighi made
history on Saturday at the NCAA Western Regionals in Tucson.
He became the first male Bruin to win a regional title. With the
win, Keflezighi qualified for the NCAA Championships next Monday in
Greenville, S.C.
"(Keflezighi) felt it was pretty winnable without going to the
wall," said head coach Bob Larsen. "He said there couldn’t be any
excuses. He’s been training hard and was fresh enough to race. I
told him to save some strength for nationals. The race was ideal
for him. We were pleased with the way it came out."
Keflezighi won the fairly hilly 10,000-meter race in 30 minutes,
15 seconds. Keflezighi’s time was 18 seconds better than that of
Pac-10 Champion Bernard Lagat of Washington State.
Keflezighi pulled away from Lagat halfway through the race and,
with about two miles left, had a comfortable lead over the runner
who upended Keflezighi’s chances of winning two straight Pac-10
titles.
However, the win was not as sweet as it could have been for
Keflezighi because of the Bruins’ seventh place team finish.
"I had never won a regional, so it means a lot to me,"
Keflezighi said. "I’m disappointed with the team because we worked
so hard all season to make nationals  that’s tough to come up
short. It would’ve been nice to go as a team to nationals as a
senior, but sometimes things don’t go as planned."
UCLA’s seventh place was not planned. The Bruins set their
sights for third place and felt a finish that high would’ve been
good enough to get an at-large bid for the NCAA Championships.
The Bruins narrowly missed fourth place by three points. UCLA
finished with 153 points and fourth-place Portland finished with
150. Washington and Arizona finished fifth and sixth, respectively,
with 151 and 152 points.
Stanford easily won the race with 50 points. Washington State
finished third with 103 points.
"They’re disappointed they didn’t qualify," Larsen said. "They
are proud of the effort they put in. We realized that, going into
the race, it would be difficult because Washington State is No. 10
in the nation."
Mark Hauser had anything but a disappointing race for UCLA.
Hauser, a 1,500-meter runner in track, ran the best cross-country
race of his life, said Larsen. Hauser finished eighth out of 145
runners in 31:14.
With his strong performance and high finish at the regional
race, Hauser could receive an at-large individual berth for the
NCAA Championships.
"(Hauser) looked great, even at the end of the race," Larsen
said. "We’ve been working on his technique. He’s been so coachable
the past three weeks. I have to compliment him on what he has
accomplished. He’s really grown this cross-country season and
figured out how to run high level races."
Will Bernaldo crossed the finish line 40th in 32:33 and was only
two-tenths of second from placing 39th. Sophomore Dan Brecht
finished 46th in 32:44 over the 6.2 mile course.
Devin Elizondo, in his final cross-country race, was the final
scorer for UCLA, finishing 58th in 33:03.
Matt Olin, also competing in his last cross-country race, was
the sixth Bruin to finish the race. He placed 71st in 33:23. Matt
Pitts was the final Bruin to cross the finish line, finishing 86th
in 33:51.
UCLA will not qualify for the NCAA Championships, but Larsen
does not feel that the team’s hard work went to waste.
"I’m proud of the effort the team made. It was a day in which
there was a gap between us and the third-place team," Larsen said.
"We weren’t able to hold on to the fourth spot. The team worked
very hard. They’ve been extremely dedicated.
"It was a tough year to have an excellent team because we were
in the toughest conference in the toughest region."