Men’s Cross-Country Notebook

Thursday, November 20, 1997

Men’s Cross-Country Notebook

Race for chocolate

Even though the season may be over, the UCLA men’s cross-country
team will race on Thursday afternoon. The team will run the
Chocolate Malt Two Mile against themselves at Drake Stadium.

The group will split up into two eight-man teams with each
runner scoring for his respective team.

Winning will be a top priority in this highly competitive race.
Why? The losing team has to buy the winning team chocolate malts at
Baskin Robbins on campus.

"They’re trash talking to each other about who’s going to run
the fastest," UCLA head coach Bob Larsen said about the team.

While the race is intended to be fun, team members hope to run
personal best two-mile times. Larsen wants the team to enjoy
themselves but is anxious to see how members of the team fare in
the race.

"Some of them will get personal bests in the two-mile," Larsen
said. "Mark Hauser is really in great shape. Paul Muite and Mason
Moore, our eighth and ninth guys on the team, will be out there
trying to make a statement about how they should’ve been in the
(NCAA Western Regionals)."

Free-Fallin’

For the first time this season, UCLA dropped out of the rankings
after the Western Regionals. The Bruins and two other Pac-10 teams,
Arizona and Washington, also fell out of the polls.

Washington, Arizona and UCLA placed fifth, sixth and seventh,
respectively at the race and fell out of the polls for good in the
final poll of the season released on November 18.

Arkansas retained its No. 1 ranking with seven first-place
votes. Stanford, Colorado, Michigan and Wisconsin rounded out the
top five. Oregon and Washington State are the only other ranked
Pac-10 schools. The Ducks are No. 6 and the Cougars are No. 11.

Hauser keeps running despite not qualifying

Mark Hauser did not qualify for an individual at-large berth for
the NCAA Championships. Hauser’s eighth place finish was not high
enough to qualify him for the championships.

However, Hauser’s cross-country season is not over. He will
compete at the USA Cross-Country Championships on Dec. 7 in
Portland, OR. The race, which is normally 10,000 meters, will
be12,000 meters or about seven and half miles.

New selection process proposed

Despite being ranked No. 11 in the nation and finishing third at
the regional meet, Washington State did not receive an at-large
berth to the NCAA Championships on Monday.

Eighteen teams, the top two teams from nine regions,
automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships with four at-large
berths handed out. The Cougars were not selected even though they
finished third in, arguably, the toughest region in the
country.

New selection plans for the NCAA Championships have been
proposed. One plan is to have the winning teams of the nine regions
automatically qualify with 13 teams getting at-large bids.

This plan is intended to boost the chances of a team that places
third or fourth at its regional meet to still get consideration for
an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships.

"This is the first year that it went to nine regions," Larsen
said. "It’s made it askew even worse because there are only four
remaining slots for at-large teams."

Notes complied by Donald Morrison, Daily Bruin Contributor