Texas runs out of steam, can’t catch UCLA at meet

Friday, September 26, 1997

Texas runs out of steam, can’t catch UCLA at meet

Heat doesn’t stop five Bruins from placing in top seven

By Donald Morrison

Daily Bruin Contributor

The University of Texas lost not once, but twice to UCLA on
Sept. 13 in Austin. A few hours before the Bruin football team
obliterated Texas, 66-3, the men’s cross country team defeated
Texas at the University of Texas Invitational.

The Bruins captured the Division I team title with only 21
points. Finishing in distant second were the Longhorns with 46
points, a team that finished 20th at last year’s NCAA
Championships. The University of Texas at San Antonio ended up in
third place with 67 points.

"It was a great win for the team," UCLA head coach Bob Larsen
said. "It was hot and humid for (the team) down there, and that
shows their tenacity and resolve to go down and get that done."

Mebrahtom Keflezighi continued his winning ways in Texas,
despite running with slight tendinitis in his left knee. He won the
four-mile race easily with a time of 19:23. The closest competitor
to Keflezighi was 30 seconds away.

"It didn’t bother him during the race," Larsen said about
Keflezighi’s tendinitis. "He got through the race fine. It was a
course with a couple of hills on it and some uneven grass areas, so
for him to get through that is a positive."

Devin Elizondo and Mark Hauser had great races crossing the
finish line in third and fourth place, respectively. Both runners
were clocked at 20:00. Matt Olin and Dan Brecht placed sixth and
seventh, respectively, to give UCLA five runners in the top
seven.

"Olin and Brecht both started the season at a higher level than
they started at last year," Larsen said. "This is also the first
fall that Elizondo has been ready to go. Usually he’s had some
injuries but he’s been coming out and running well."

Only three Bruins competed at the Aztec Invitational in San
Diego on Saturday. Mason Moore was the highest UCLA finisher,
placing 22nd. Ryan Larson finished 28th and Matt Pitts placed
30th.

This Saturday, UCLA will run at the Stanford Invitational in
Palo Alto. The invitational will feature Stanford, the No. 1-ranked
team in the nation and UCLA’s toughest Pac-10 opponent.

"It will be a great challenge if we could put anyone besides
(Keflezighi) into (Stanford’s) top-five finishers," Larsen said.
"Hauser and Elizondo are ready to run with some of their guys in
their top five, but it’ll be a challenge."

The challenge for some of the top competitors at the race will
be to beat Keflezighi, last year’s invitational winner, and to try
to break his 8,000- meter course record. He set the course record
at last year’s Pac-10 championships with a time of 23:45.

Larsen feels that Brad and Brent Hauser of Stanford are likely
to give Keflezighi a good challenge because they are running on
their home course early in the season. However, Keflezighi will not
be the only Bruin tested.

"It’s going to be a test for the team," Larsen said about the
upcoming race. "There will be other strong teams there, too. Our
job is to not be too distracted by (Stanford) and compete well with
them, but realistically we want to try to beat the other teams that
are there."