Bruins get personal at NCAA championships

Tuesday, November 24, 1998

Bruins get personal at NCAA championships

RECAP: Cross country runners finish season with emotional race,
All-American honors

By Donald Morrison

Daily Bruin Contributor

Cross country runner Mark Hauser faced the toughest field of
runners and the toughest course of his collegiate career on Monday
at the NCAA Championships and came out with All-American
honors.

The senior, running in his last collegiate cross country race,
finished 24th out of 255 runners in 30:59 over a tough and hilly
10,000 meter (6.2 mile) course in Lawerence, Kan. This season was
the fifth consecutive season that a UCLA men’s cross country runner
was named an All-American.

"I’m really pleased with (Hauser’s) performance," head coach Bob
Larsen said. "He’s really come a long way and ran very well. To get
24th on that course against such a strong field is excellent."

Hauser took off with the leaders of the race for the first mile
but dropped off on the second mile. Near the end of the race,
however, a determined Hauser passed up about five runners to finish
24th. One of those runners was Senica Lassiter from Arkansas, the
NCAA track and field champion in the 1,500 meters.

"I wanted (Hauser) to get out in front at the beginning," Larsen
said. "He felt very good. His sprint was awesome. He really came
back at the end of the race."

Hauser, UCLA’s No. 1 runner all year long, made it his goal to
earn All-American honors at the beginning of the season. He
qualified for the NCAA Championships by finishing seventh at the
Western Regional meet."

"It was survival after two miles," Larsen said. "There was a lot
of pain after that, especially when he went out hard for the first
mile. It was hard to get into a rhythm with so many hills and
turns."

Adam Goucher, a senior from Colorado, finally won his first NCAA
cross country title. He pulled away from Arizona’s Abdi Abdirahman
for the win with about a mile to go.

Arkansas won the team title with 97 points while Stanford
finished second with 114 points. Oregon, the other Pac-10 school
placing in the top five, finished fifth.

* * *

The UCLA women’s cross country team made its first appearance at
the NCAA Championships in 10 years and came out with a 28th place
finish. The team, which will return its top six runners next year,
gained valuable experience for the future, said head coach Eric
Peterson.

Kelly Cohn led the way again for UCLA as she finished 79th in a
time of 18:05 over a very challenging 3.1 mile course. Cohn, who
has been UCLA’s No. 1 runner all year long, was the only Bruin to
place in the top 100.

"I was very pleased with Cohn," Peterson said. "She came to run
well and did. She’s been our leader all year long and showed it.
The course was the hardest we ran on all year."

Kara Barnard placed 115th for UCLA and teammate Julie Ott placed
120th, while Melinda George placed 195th. Christina Bowen was the
last scorer for the Bruins as she finished 207th.

The only senior on the team, Nicole Luque, finished the race in
19:43 and freshman Elaine Canchola, running injured, finished in
20:05. All seven runners for UCLA competed in their first NCAA
Championships.

"I told the team I wanted them to learn something from
experience," Peterson said. "They (the team) now have a clear view
on how they need to improve."

With the top six runners back from this year, the Bruins could
be among the top teams next year.

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