UCLA places fourth over Michigan at interregional
By Daily Bruin Staff
Oct. 16, 2000 9:00 p.m.
By Dylan Hernandez
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The UCLA men’s cross country team flew out of Michigan
Sunday afternoon having accomplished one of its goals.
That morning at the Wolverine Interregional, the Bruins took
down host No. 19 Michigan. Going into the contest, UCLA figured
doing so would put it on the bubble to earn an at-large bid for the
NCAA Championship meet.
Many of the Bruins were pleased that they defeated Michigan, but
at the same time, they knew it may have not been enough.
The Bruins allowed a pair of unranked teams to slip by them and
ended up fourth in the race, dimming their chances of running at
the national finals.
“It’s kind of bittersweet,” said senior Mason
Moore, who finished 13th at 25:36. “We beat Michigan but we
were still fourth.”
Winning the meet was Texas, which placed all five of its scorers
in the top 25 to tally 77 points.
St. Francis (91 points) and No. 20 Washington (94) followed,
with UCLA (115) and Michigan (121) coming in next.
Mark Pilja, a junior from Michigan, won the individual title,
covering the 8-kilometer course in 24:42.
“Both Texas and St. Francis were very impressive
teams,” UCLA head coach Eric Peterson said. “I admit,
they did (surprise us). It was kind of a shock.”
The race went out at a moderate pace, as the leaders hit the
mile mark at about 4:50. The Bruins’ pack of eight runners
was close behind, hitting the mark at 4:55.
Though senior captain Scott Abbott dropped out of the race at
this point because of a throbbing back, UCLA marched on with senior
Paul Muite at its head, keeping its top five intact though the
first three miles.
Just before the 5-kilometer mark, junior Bryan Green, the
Bruins’ No. 1 runner in each one of their races this season,
made his move.
Green tore down the last two miles, crossing the finish line at
25:24 to come in ninth.
Moore, freshman Jon Rankin (18th, 25:44), Muite (33rd, 26:16)
and senior Andrew Wulf (42nd, 26:28) rounded out the Bruin
five.
Junior Justin Patananan (59th, 26:46) and sophomore Phil Young
(71st, 27:19) were the other UCLA runners to finish the race.
“We weren’t paying much attention to Texas and St.
Francis,” said Muite. “When we heard Michigan’s
score, we thought we had finished as high as second.”
With the race in Michigan behind them, the Bruins look forward
to the Pac-10 and Western Regional Championships which will take
place on Oct. 28 and Nov. 11, respectively.
Peterson expects that to get a spot at nationals, his team will
have to finish fourth behind national powerhouses Stanford, Oregon
and Arizona in each of those meets.
“I’m encouraged,” he said. “Hopefully,
we can reproduce our effort at regionals.”
