Cross country’s new outlook boosts team morale, yields improved results
By Claire Fahy
Oct. 7, 2014 4:22 a.m.
With its first highly competitive meet behind them, UCLA cross country is finally hitting its stride.
On Saturday at the Washington Invitational in Seattle, both the men’s and women’s teams shocked the field by placing high among nationally ranked teams. After the men came second and the women placed fourth – an identical finish to their last meet at the Brigham Young Autumn Classic on Sept. 13 – it seemed the Bruins were the only ones who weren’t surprised.
“I think that we did what we’re supposed to do,” said senior Kelsey Smith. “I don’t want people to think we’re the best team out there, I want people to think we’re underdogs and continue to shock people.”
UCLA is back on campus as a different team than it was in years previous. After a 14-day training camp at Mammoth Mountain and a weeklong trip to California’s Central Coast that included high-intensity workouts in challenging environments, the team said it returned to Westwood with a closer team chemistry and stronger leadership.
“Some of our very talented guys who came in a couple years ago are now juniors (or) seniors and they’re leaders now – that has been the biggest factor,” said assistant coach Forest Braden. “We’ve always had talent on the team, but now we have the overall team attitude and atmosphere similar, and that’s because of the leaders on the team and that trickles down to everybody.”
One thing that strong leadership has led to is a more unified team mentality, the runners said. In a sport like cross-country, personal goals can sometimes supersede those of the team. This season’s Bruins are refusing to let that be their team’s reality.
“Our outlook and mentality is different this year – it’s definitely more team-centered than individualized,” said junior Sergey Sushchikh of the No. 21 men’s team. “Everyone still has individual goals for themselves, but it seems like this year it never conflicts with our team goals.”
As UCLA enters arguably the most important month of its season – with invitationals and the Pac-12 Championships on the horizon – it hopes that its new outlook will keep the team on track.
“(We’re) not getting overconfident or under-confident,” Smith said. “(We’re) just continuing to keep that poise that we’ve worked so hard to keep and just maintaining that level and improving fitness.”
UCLA will get a chance to continue its season on Thursday with a dual meet against rival USC at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. With their new outlook and camaraderie, the Bruins look to run away with the contest.
