MIKE CHIEN Senior runner Justin
Patananan and freshman Seth Neumuller
look to succeed at the Western Regional Championships this
weekend.
By Michael Sneag
Daily Bruin Contributor
This Saturday’s NCAA Western Regional Qualifying Meet in
Tucson, Ariz., will determine if the UCLA cross country teams are
invited to compete in the NCAA Championships a week later.
The women’s team has a good shot at earning an at-large
bid with a strong performance, but they will have to rely on the
NCAA committee in all likelihood for an invitation to race in South
Carolina.
The top two teams from the nine regions around the country
automatically make it, along with 13 who receiver at-large bids for
a total of 31.
The No. 17 ranked women’s team will be led by junior
Elaine Canchola, who also led the Bruins at the Pac-10 meet last
week, and by freshman Alejandra Barrientos, who before last week
had been the top Bruin finisher in every race she had run, but has
been battling the flu the past few weeks.
“Our women’s team, at times throughout the season,
has run well,” head coach Eric Peterson said. “What we
are looking for is our top team effort. We are a Top 5 team in our
region and if we run our best team race of the season on Saturday,
we can be one of the nation’s elite squads, a Top 15 team in
the U. S.”
The Western Region is one of the toughest in the country and
features some of the top teams in the nation. They include No. 1
Stanford, the 2001 Pac-10 winner, host No. 8 Arizona, No. 11
Arizona State and No. 24 Washington.
The men’s team chances are much slimmer and they will
probably have to be content with gaining individual entries from
standouts senior Bryan Green and freshmen Ben Aragon.
“Individually, Bryan and Ben have an excellent chance to
run well at the qualifying meet and represent our program as
individuals at the NCAA Championships,” Peterson said.
“As a unit, I want our pack of runners to have a strong team
effort and match our performance at the Pac-10 meet.”
No. 2 Stanford, the 2001 Pac-10 champ, leads the list of top
teams, along with No. 8 Portland, No. 13 UCSB, No. 14 Arizona
State, No. 18 Oregon, host No. 20 Arizona and No. 25
Washington.
Joining Green and Aragon on the men’s team is senior
Justin Patananan, who will most likely be running his final race as
a Bruin.