Nearly a year and a half ago, Jon Rankin was struggling with the
notion that maybe track was not the thing for him.
Rankin had fallen victim to various injuries and
inconsistencies, and he didn’t know what to expect from his
senior year.
Little did he know what he would accomplish.
During last fall’s cross country season, Rankin was easily
the team’s top runner and finished the season as an
All-American, the first Bruin to receive the honor since Mark
Hauser in 1998.
As Rankin headed into the track season, he did not miss a beat,
piling up numerous accolades and victories which included breaking
the prestigious four-minute mile barrier, as well as breaking the
school record in the 1500 meters.
“The success I’m having now,” Rankin said,
“is simply a result of all of the things I have learned from
my struggles.”
Rankin’s struggles came to a peak last year during the
Indoor National Championships. Leading off the distance medley for
the Bruins, Rankin ran a poor leg of the relay, handing the baton
off while in second-to-last place. It was then that distance coach
Eric Peterson let Rankin know that such a performance was
unacceptable from a Bruin athlete, especially at the national
level.
“After that race, he and I sat down privately,”
Peterson said. “We talked about the future and what it was
going to take for him to get to the next level.”
That talk gave his star runner a wake-up call.
“I told him to do some soul-searching and try to find some
purpose for what he’s doing,” Peterson said. “I
didn’t want (him) to just go through the motions,”
Peterson said.
Rankin took Peterson’s words to heart and has never looked
back.
“During the track season, I started running well and
hitting my stride, and that’s when I realized that
there’s a little bit more here than I had ever noticed
before.”
It would have been easy for Rankin to allow his struggles to
define his UCLA career.
But with his success this season, he can now look at his first
three years as the motivating force that propelled him to
All-American status and put him into the record books.
Compiled by David Garcia, Bruin Sports reporter.