By Michael Sneag
Daily Bruin Contributor
Hoping to use the experience as a springboard for the upcoming
NCAA Preview Meet, the UCLA men’s and women’s cross
country teams both had success on Friday at the Arizona State Cross
Country Invitational.
On the women’s side, only five runners were sent as part
of the “B” team, but all five ran extremely well, and
the team placed second overall to Stanford. The top Bruin was
freshman Carolyn Shea, who placed seventh overall with a time of
18:53. The individual winner was Stanford’s Laura Turner, who
ran the 5,000-meter course in 18:04.
“Carolyn ran extremely well,” coach Eric Peterson
said. “We were using the meet as a runoff to see who would
get the seventh spot for the NCAA Preview Meet. She has made great
improvements in the last month and has really earned the
opportunity to run next week.”
The other four Bruins also placed well, led by junior Julia
Barbour (14th, 19:22), followed by junior Kelly Grimes (15th,
19:31), sophomore Tiffany Burgess (19th, 19:42) and freshman
Christine Atkins (29th, 20:20).
“The purpose of running these five athletes was to prepare
for this upcoming week in South Carolina,” Peterson said.
“It was a nice little team. I was very pleased with the team
performance.”
The men’s team ran well, also placing second overall,
gaining some much needed confidence after their lackluster
performance at the Griak Invitational. New Mexico won both the team
competition and the individual title as Matt Gonzales ran a 25:32
for the 8,000-meter course.
Four Bruins finished in the top 20, led by freshman Ben Aragon,
who placed fourth overall with a time of 26:04. Three other
freshmen were the subsequent finishers, as Robert Kubler (11th,
26:37), Seth Neumuller (14th, 26:51) and Puneet Mahan (18th,
26:07.6) all showed why the freshmen class has such high hopes.
“I was very pleased, particularly with Ben Aragon. Robert
and Seth also ran great races,” Peterson said. “We
competed well and the most important thing we can do is gain
experience. It’s invaluable to just get out and race as much
as possible.”
Both the men’s and women’s team go into the upcoming
NCAA Preview Meet in South Carolina with a sense of confidence. For
the women, most of them took a break from racing this weekend, but
should be ready to show the country that they are ready to be
competitive on the national level. On the men’s side,
they continue to use each race to make progress, and gain
experience.