Team wins Arizona Invitational

Monday, October 19, 1998

Team wins Arizona Invitational

Second

victory raises hopes for top bids in regional, Pac-10
competitions

By Donald Morrison

Daily Bruin Contributor

The No. 24-ranked UCLA women’s cross country team used the
Arizona State Invitational in Gilbert, Ariz., on Friday as dress
rehearsal for the upcoming Pacific-10 Conference Championships in
two weeks. Now, the rehearsal is over and the show will begin for
the Bruins, who won their second consecutive invitational.

‘We’re going to use the next two weeks to train for the Pac-10
Championships,’ said UCLA head coach Eric Peterson.

‘We just won our last two meets, and the emotional level is
high. It’s a very realistic goal to place in the top three at the
regional and Pac-10 meets.’

UCLA won the meet with 32 points, while second-place Arizona
State finished 47 points behind the Bruins with 79. No. 2 Stanford
and No. 6 Arizona, not running many of their top competitors,
placed third and fourth respectively.

UCLA continued to run well as a group, as all five scorers
placed in the top 13 and finished within 35 seconds of each other.
Sophomore Julie Ott led the Bruins at the meet, placing fourth for
UCLA with a time of 17 minutes, 59 seconds over the hilly 3.1 mile
course. Kelly Cohn, who has finished as UCLA’s No. 1 runner in
every other meet she has competed in, placed fifth in 18:01.

‘I’m happy because I’m starting to see (Ott) regain her form
from last track season (when she placed 12th in the 10,000 meters
at the NCAA Championships),’ Peterson said. ‘We needed her to get
to a high level of running that our program enjoys.’

Freshman Elaine Canchola continued to impress Peterson as she
placed sixth in 18:11. Christina Bowen, after overcoming an injury
last week, finished in 18:26. And Melinda George, the team’s final
scorer, placed 13th with a season best time of 18:34.

The Bruins managed to win the meet without one of their top
runners, Kara Barnard. Barnard sat out the meet because of illness
but will be ready for the Pac-10 Championships.

‘(George) stepped up big for us,’ Peterson said. ‘She stepped up
when we needed her, too, since we were without (Barnard).’

While UCLA did win the meet, the Bruins were a little
disappointed that No. 2 Northern Arizona did not field a complete
team; it only ran its No. 1, No. 3 and No. 5 runners. Peterson said
that the team wanted to go up against Northern Arizona to help its
chances of getting a qualifying spot for the NCAA Championships in
a month.

Without a possible victory against a regional foe, the Bruins
missed an opportunity to impress the NCAA selection committee,
which takes victories against regional and non-regional teams into
account when selecting at-large teams for the NCAA
Championships.

‘We ran well enough to be competitive against NAU,’ Peterson
said. ‘It’s frustrating when of one of the most significant
criteria for developing an at-large berth for the NCAA
Championships is your performance against inter-regional
opponents.’

The Bruins, whose goal is to have at least six runners under 18
minutes for a 3.1 mile course, ran on some of the toughest courses
they’ve performed on all season. The course was run mostly on
rolling hills with thick grass. Peterson said he was happy about
the way the team ran on such a difficult course.

With UCLA winning its second consecutive meet, the team felt
very confident in its ability to perform strongly at the Pac-10
meet.

‘One thing that the team is doing differently than what its done
in the past is that it’s running with more confidence,’ Peterson
said.

‘The team is starting and getting up in the front of the lead
pack. The longer they stay up in front, the more they realize they
can perform well.’

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