Starting from scratch

  UCLA Sports Information Bryan Green
keeps up with the competition in a meet. The junior was the
Bruins’ top runner in the first two meets of the season.

By Dylan Hernandez
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

After 21 years as head coach of the UCLA men’s cross
country team, Bob Larsen finally stepped down, giving way to Eric
Peterson.

Peterson has been the women’s coach for the past six years
and has led the team to consecutive NCAA championship appearances.
Beginning this year, he will be in charge of both the men’s
and women’s programs.

So far, the Bruin men are adjusting, without a problem, to the
change.

“It was an expected transition,” senior Paul Muite
said. “We’re all adapting to it well.”

“I think the team will do better with coach
Peterson,” junior Bryan Green added. “Eric is really
focused on team discipline. We’re coming together as one and
it’ll be beneficial to all of us.”

Missing the big frontrunners of the past years in Mebrahtom
Keflezighi, who is representing the United States at the Olympics,
and Mark Hauser, UCLA has implemented a more team-oriented strategy
in its races.

In its first two meets of the season, the Bruins have tried to
keep its pack together through three miles in an effort to drag
along the bottom scorers.

MEN’S WATER POLO SCHEDULE Date
Opponent Outcome/Time 09/09 09/15
09/16

09/17

09/24
09/29
10/01
10/07
10/14
10/15
10/21

10/22

10/28
11/04
11/05
11/12
11/18

@ UC Irvine Princeton Long Beach State UCSB USC Cal @ Pacific @
UC Santa Barbara Pepperdine @ USC @ Cal @ Stanford Nor Cal
Tournament (@ Pacific) Nor Cal Tournament (@ Pacific) Loyola
Marymount Stanford (Rosebowl) Long Beach State UC Irvine USC
(Rosebowl) L, 9-7 W, 13-3 W, 13-6 W, 10-4 L, 5-4 W, 10-7 12:00 PM
4:00 PM 12:00 PM 12:00 PM TBA 12:00 PM All Day

All Day

12:00 PM
12:00 PM
12:00 PM
12:00 PM
TBA

SOURCE: Sports Info (schedule is tentative) Original by JACOB
LIAO/Daily Bruin Web Adaptation by HERNANE TABAY/Daily Bruin Senior
Staff “I felt it was an easy sell,” Peterson said.
“I recognized in observing the team that there was no
superstar athlete. I told them they were better together than by
themselves.”

Practice, too, team members say, have been more productive,
since there is less competition among each other.

The squad, which finished seventh among the eight teams
competing in the Pac-10 last year, return much of their nucleus
intact.

Green, 35th at the 1999 Western Regional, looks to be the
team’s top runner, having placed sixth and third at the
Fullerton and Aztec meets, respectively, to open the year. In
track, Green was 10th in the Pac-10 10,000 meters with a 31:22.52
personal-best.

U.S. WATER POLO POLL This poll for men’s water
polo was last updated 09/13/2000. 1. UCLA 2. Cal 3.
Stanford 4. USC 5. UC Irvine 6. Pepperdine 7. Long Beach State 8.
Pacific 9. UCSB 10. Navy 11. UCSD 12. Air Force 13. Queens 14.
Massachusetts-Amherst 15. Loyola Marymount 16. Princeton 17. St.
Francis 18. UC Davis 19. Brown 20. Harvard SOURCE:
www.espn.com *poll data released every Wednesday Original by JACOB
LIAO/Daily Bruin Web Adaptation by HERNANE TABAY/Daily Bruin Senior
Staff

Fifth-year senior Scott Abbott returns to captain the Bruins
despite having earned his degree in the spring. He was a close
second on the team to Green at both the Fullerton and Aztec
races.

Muite, a 14:41.75 5K runner in track, is also back after a
disappointing 1999 campaign. Although he was the team’s top
returnee, Muite never found his rhythm and struggled through last
season. So far this year he has looked solid, finishing right
behind Abbott in the two races.

Senior Mason Moore was the No. 1 Bruin at the Pac-10 cross
country championships last year and should be a consistent scorer
for UCLA.

“We have a lot of experience,” Peterson said.
“The popular way of thinking is that if that experience is no
good, it won’t help. I don’t believe that.

“The past failures will make these guys hungry.”

At the moment, the question mark appears to lie in the five
through seven spots.

Junior Justin Patananan has run remarkably well at times but has
been inconsistent. Junior Andrew Wulf, an academic senior, missed
last season studying abroad in Spain.

Freshman Jon Rankin, a 4:10 1600 meter runner from Monte Vista
High School in Spring Valley, is another possibility to take the
fifth and final scoring position.

Peterson said the Bruins should be capable of finishing between
fifth and sixth in both the Pac-10s and Western Regionals.

He pointed to NCAA qualifiers Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Arizona
State and Portland among the regional rivals UCLA can be
competitive with.

“It’s realistic,” he said. “We’re
rebuilding and that will take time, especially since we’re in
a conference that’s so strong.”

Stanford, second at last year’s NCAA championships, are
the favorites to win not only the Pac-10 conference, but the
national title as well. They are paced by senior All-American
Jonathan Riley.

Perennial powers Arizona and Oregon each lost their All-American
frontrunners in Micheil Jones and Steve Fein, respectively, but are
expected to finish strong this year.

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY Bryan
Green (Jr.) 6’0, 140 Scott Abbott (Sr.)
5’7, 125 Paule Muite (Sr.) 6’0, 140 Mason
Moore (Sr.) 6’0, 135 Andrew Wulf (Jr.)
5’11, 145 John Rankin (Fr.) 5’10, 145
Justin Patanan (Jr.) 6’1, 140 Original by JACOB
LIAO/Daily Bruin Web Adaptation by HERNANE TABAY/Daily Bruin Senior
Staff