Even without the team’s top runners, the Bruins were still
well-represented this weekend in La Jolla. The UCLA men’s and
women’s cross country teams competed at the UCSD Triton Cross
Country Classic on Saturday, fielding just six runners in total.
The meet was utilized primarily to give some of the younger runners
more racing experience and also to help solidify the regular
lineup. On the women’s side, the Bruins were led by redshirt
senior Lori Mann who finished in fifth place with a time of 22:35
for the 6,000 meter course. “Lori finished very
strong,” UCLA assistant coach Scott Abbott said. “She
is starting to look like a potential point scorer for our
team.” Rounding out the lineup for the Bruins were freshman
Ciara Viehweg in 12th place, senior Leslie Barrie in 25th place and
freshman Lauren Jirges in 27th place. In the men’s 8,000
meter race, redshirt freshman Matt Stollenwerk had a solid
performance, coming across the line in 17th place with a time of
26:43. “Matt had the best race of his collegiate
career,” Abbott said. “He has really solidified himself
as our No. 7 runner on the team.” Freshman Ryan Gordon also
competed well with a time of 27:07, which put him in 33rd place.
The Bruins will now focus their attention on preparation for next
weekend’s Pre-NCAA Invitational to be held in Terre Haute,
Ind., which is the same site of this year’s national
championships in November.
MEN’S TENNIS: UCLA men’s tennis
player Benjamin Kohlloeffel was upset Friday in the round of 16 at
the 2005 Polo Ralph Lauren ITA All-American Championships.
Kohlloeffel, seeded third in the tournament hosted by Tulsa, lost
to Baylor’s Lars Poerschke, 7-5, 6-4, concluding his run at
the tournament. The sophomore was the only Bruin to enter the
tournament, while his teammates competed at the Bulldog Classic
hosted by Fresno State. Sophomores Jeremy Drean and Mathieu Dehaine
fared well in the Fresno tournament, eventually meeting each other
in the final of the Flight A bracket Sunday morning. Dehaine beat
his teammate in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4 to capture the tournament
title. The finals loss was not the only one for Drean at the
tournament, as he and doubles partner Jason Nguyen lost 8-1 in the
consolation finals to Jakub Cech and Sam Tadevosian of host team
Fresno State.
WOMEN’S TENNIS: UCLA freshman Ashley
Joelson nearly qualified for the singles main draw at the 2005
ITA/Riviera All-American last Wednesday, falling in the final round
of qualifying to Olga Boulytcheva of BYU. The Austin native lost in
three sets, 6-0, 2-6, 6-3. After winning three matches in
pre-qualifying to reach the qualifying draw, Joelson entered the
day with qualifying wins over Indiana’s Sarah Batty and Wake
Forest’s Alex Hirsch. Three other Bruins took part in the
qualifying tournament, but failed to make it any further than their
freshman teammate. Veteran players Laura Gordon, Tracy Lin and Alex
McGoodwin all lost in straight sets to their opponents.
MEN’S GOLF: The men’s golf team
will be competing in the Chico State/Wells Fargo Invitational today
and Tuesday, hoping to have a better outing than its fourth-place
finish at the Big-10/Pac-10 Challenge. The tournament will be held
all day at the Butte Creek Country Club in Chico.
Compiled by David Garcia and Ajaybir Behniwal, Bruin Sports
senior staff.