Pac-10 teams in the top 25 In the latest
national polls, both the UCLA men’s and women’s teams
remained unranked, but on both sides, other Pac-10 squads littered
the rankings. For the women, defending national champion Stanford
was No. 1, gathering 11 of the 12 first-place votes and 298 points
in the FinishLynx poll. Washington (No. 4, 253 points), Arizona
State (No. 14, 156), Arizona (No. 15, 133) and Oregon (No. 22, 22)
were the other teams in the top 25. UCLA received two points.
Stanford’s men, who destroyed the field at the Notre Dame
Invitational last weekend without some of their top runners, was
the top-ranked squad, gathering 12 of 16 first-place votes in the
rankings compiled by the United States Cross Country Coaches
Association. Arizona (No. 9, 269 points), Arizona State (No. 16,
178), Oregon (No. 18, 145) and Washington (No. 20, 98) were also
ranked. Portland (2 points) and UCSB (1), whom the Bruins will face
at the West Regionals, also received votes.
Women get rest, men head to Michigan After
racing for four consecutive weeks, the UCLA women’s cross
country team will rest this weekend. In the meantime, the men, who
took last weekend off while the women were at the Penn State
Invitational, will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich. to race at the
Wolverine Interregional. Travelling to Michigan for the Bruins will
be seniors Scott Abbott, Mason Moore and Paul Muite, juniors Bryan
Green, Justin Patananan and Andrew Wulf, sophomore Phil Young and
freshman Jon Rankin. Originally, the men were scheduled to go to
the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Invitational but decided to face
stiffer competition after a surprising third-place finish at the
Stanford Invite two weeks ago.
Riley favored to win Pac-10 Cruising to an easy
win at the Stanford Invitational, Jonathan Riley of the host
Cardinal established himself as the early favorite to win the
Pac-10 conference individual title. Riley led a 1-2-3 Stanford
sweep by covering the Cardinal’s 8,000-meter home course in
24:44. Other contenders for the conference championship include
Stanford teammate Thomas Murley, Garrett Jensen of Arizona State,
Michael Kasahun of Oregon and Mike Cramer of Arizona. On the
women’s side, Arizona’s Tara Chaplin, winner of the Roy
Griak Invitational, will battle defending champion Erin Sullivan of
Stanford and fellow Cardinal teammates Julia Stamps, Lauren
Fleshman and Elena Villarreal for the crown.
Notes compiled by Dylan Hernandez, Daily Bruin Senior Staff.