When the UCLA cross country teams head to Seattle, Wash. this weekend for the Pac-10 Championships, the weather will likely have occasional showers.
And although UCLA is used to practicing in picture-perfect Southern California, that chance of rain might be just what the Bruins need to slip past a couple of national powerhouses when they begin their postseason Saturday.
“What (the rain) does is, it evens out the playing field. All the training that everyone puts in, it definitely gets taken into account, but it’s all dependent on how you race in the rain this weekend,” redshirt junior Kent Morikawa said. “We had a workout in the rain maybe a week and a half ago, it went fairly well; we liked it. It’s a lot of fun running in the rain.”
On the men’s team, redshirt junior Dylan Knight is unlikely to race this weekend because of illness. Knight has been one of UCLA’s top performers this year, and his absence means that other runners will have to step up.
“Our team is fairly deep; we have a lot of guys that can definitely step up and run in his place,” Morikawa said. “(Nohe Lema) has definitely been running solid all season; we’re definitely going to need him to step it up. And Jake Matthews is ready to do some big things, too.”
Coach Forest Braden listed the depth on the men’s team as one of its strengths. Of the 10 Bruins traveling to Seattle, only four runners ““ three freshman and one transfer ““ have not raced in the Pac-10 Championships before.
The women’s team will rely more on youth than experience, however, as the Bruins are sending seven freshman, a sophomore and two seniors to compete in the women’s race.
Last year, the Bruins finished fifth in the men’s race and seventh in the women’s race. If they want to win this year, both teams will have to beat two of the top teams in the nation: Stanford’s men’s team enters this weekend ranked No. 1 in the country, while Oregon’s women’s team is ranked No. 2.
The unranked Bruins will hope to catch these teams slipping on Jefferson Park Golf Course, a venue at which the Bruins have not run before.
“It’s similar to most Pac-10 courses, it’s similar to courses we’ve already ran this year,” Braden said. “Fairly flat, fairly fast, you always have to take into account the Seattle weather; (it) should be nothing we’re not used to.”
The Bruins will need to run their best races of the season if they are going to have any shot of competing for a top spot this weekend. But at least it’s going to rain, and anything can happen in the rain, especially when you’re having fun.