By Dylan Hernandez
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
As they boarded the bus that would take them to the airport
Thursday morning, Eric Peterson’s runners were unusually
relaxed.
The UCLA women’s cross country team, who will compete at
the Penn State Invitational on Saturday, felt certain they will do
well in their upcoming meet. The self-doubt which had built up
after the first meets early in the season was gone.
Last weekend, the Bruins finished sixth at the prestigious
Stanford Invitational, losing only to teams that were ranked 13th
or higher in the NCAA.
“Before Stanford, our confidence was about this
much,” said senior Team Captain Tina Bowen, holding her thumb
and index fingers about a centimeter apart from each other.
“Stanford was awesome,” she continued. “We
gained a lot of confidence from it.”
Peterson said recent workouts have benefitted as a result.
“The more competent they feel about themselves, the more
enthusiastic they will be,” he said. “In the workouts,
you need to have a high level of energy and concentration and in
the last week, they’ve had that.”
At this weekend’s meet, the Bruins will face a strong, but
not spectacular field, which includes host Penn State, Central
Michigan and Navy. None of the teams in the race are ranked in the
top 25.
“We’re hoping to get first,” said sophomore
Julia Barbour.
Bowen added that a win over Penn State, a team that may qualify
for the NCAA Championship meet as the No. 3 team from the Great
Lakes Region, would give the Bruins great leverage to get an
at-large bid to the national finals.
With weak early-season performances probably hurting UCLA in the
eyes of the NCAA selection committee, some team members say they
are feeling a sense of urgency to do favorably against other bubble
teams.
Peterson, however, wants his runners to focus on themselves.
“Our goal is to race better every week,” he said.
“We want a strong team performance and to worry less about
the results.”
Expected to lead the pack once again is Bowen, who finished 14th
at Stanford. She has been the Bruins’ top finisher in four of
the five meets the team has run.
Senior Katie Nuanes, 24th at Stanford, has been close to Bowen
all season.
Also making to trip to Penn State are senior Gina Donnelly,
junior Bridget Hatch, sophomores Barbour, Kelly Grimes and Melissa
McBain, and freshman Valerie Flores.