Every Step Counts

  CATHERINE JAYIN JUN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Freshman
cross country runner Ben Aragon prepares himself
for the season ahead.

By Michael Sneag
Daily Bruin Contributor

Ben Aragon had no grand ideas of becoming a runner. It took
begging to get him to join the cross country team. He wanted to
play football, but his parents thought he was too small to play.
Eventually, he decided he could use cross country training to help
him get in shape for the soccer season. Funny how things work
out.

Aragon is now one of the most talented freshmen on the UCLA
men’s cross country team and has established himself as the
team’s No. 2 runner behind senior standout Bryan Green.

Coaches and teammates praise him for his work ethic, leadership
qualities, team-first attitude and loyalty, but when it all comes
down to it, what has allowed him to succeed this year has been his
ability to focus on the task at hand and execute come race
time.

“Ben has improved on a weekly basis since he got
here,” said head coach Eric Peterson. “He follows
directions and he really understands the team concept, something
really needed on the team. He has great potential and has got the
makings to be one of the top runners in the Pac-10.”

The men’s team has had to re-think expectations for this
season, as injuries have decimated the team’s veteran
leadership. Injuries to many top runners have created a need for
someone to step up and fill the void.

Aragon has done that and more.

“He has done a better job than anyone on the team of doing
exactly what he has been asked to do on a daily basis and doing
that to the best of his ability,” Green said. “So far,
it has shown in the races.”

Race by race, he has been gaining confidence as the season has
progressed.

In the team’s first race at the Fullerton Invitational on
Sept. 1, he was 35th overall, but placed seventh on the team,
something he attributed to first race nerves.

Since then he has placed 25th (third among UCLA) at the
Sundodger Invitational in Seattle on Sept. 22. At the Roy Griak
Invitational on Sept. 19, with Green battling illness, he was the
Bruins’ top runner. Aragon has continued to assume a
leadership role and finished fourth overall (first among UCLA) at
the Arizona State Invitational two weeks ago.

“We are a very young team. Somebody needed to step it up,
and I just naturally do it,” Aragon said. “I feel if I
do my part, everyone else can do theirs, so I am just doing the
best I can do for my team.”

Leadership is a valuable quality, especially on such a young
team. Aragon has provided it in races but more importantly he has
become a leader during practice. He is not the type of guy to run
around before races, pumping up people and getting in their faces.
Instead he prefers to go about his business in a quiet, controlled
manner and let his running do his talking.

“I lead by example,” Aragon said. “I always
work hard and do my best. People recognize that, follow me and
respect me. Once that builds, you can become a true leader and
hopefully lead your team to victory.”

Aragon has lofty goals of becoming a pre-med student and going
into the biological sciences, but at the moment he is enjoying some
fun classes during his first quarter at UCLA while he adjusts to
college.

Hard work has eased the transition from high school, but he
knows it is only the beginning in a long, arduous process.

“Each step counts. You can’t afford to waste any
time. I hate leaving a race feeling that I didn’t give it all
I got.”

This philosophy is used by Aragon to describe how he approaches
his races, but it also can be used to explain his whole attitude
toward life. Even though his becoming a cross country runner was an
accident, he dedicated himself and ran with it.