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UCLA cross country set to elevate their game against UC Riverside in season opener

Junior DJ Lawson (right) and freshman Marcus Mota (left) are training in Mammoth Lakes, California, as part of an annual UCLA cross country tradition. The Bruins will get their season started with a dual meet against UC Riverside Aug. 31. (Courtesy of Don Liebig/UCLA Athletics)

By Jared Tay

Aug. 30, 2019 5:09 p.m.

During the time of UCLA cross country coach Bob Larsen, the Bruins traveled to Mammoth Lake every year for early season training.

That tradition has continued even 40 years after Larsen first took over the reins of the program back in 1979.

UCLA cross country will face UC Riverside in its first competition of the season Saturday in Mammoth Lakes, California. The women’s race is set to kick off at 9:30 a.m. with the men’s race beginning at 10 a.m.

“(Training in Mammoth) has been a thing for many years now, even when I was in the program,” said assistant coach Devin Elizondo, who graduated from UCLA in 1998. “(Larsen) was an avid skier and so he was experimenting with his team and had a ton of success.”

Mammoth Lakes sit approximately 7,800 feet above sea level, giving the Bruins the opportunity to condition in an elevation that is dramatically different than Los Angeles.

“The elevation makes a very big difference,” said junior DJ Lawson. “Where I am from (Visalia, California), it is extremely hot in the summer, and a lot of people say ‘heat is the poor man’s elevation.’ So, transitioning for me isn’t difficult. But if you’re from Orange County or southern California, the transition is hard.”

The route that both teams will take will be a 4 kilometer course – about the distance of an average warmup for the Bruins, according to Lawson. About 60% of the course will be on paved road, while the other 40% will be on trails – typical for a California high school competition route, Lawson said.

UCLA returns many of its standout performers from last season, including redshirt senior Colin Burke, junior Christina Rice and junior Erika Adler, all of whom earned All-West Region honors in 2018.

Adler was the only Bruin to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA championships in Wisconsin last year. Adler paced the Bruins on the women’s side at both the NCAA regionals and Pac-12 championships, finishing inside the top-15 overall at both competitions.

Fourteen freshmen – eight on the women’s side and six on the men’s – join the Bruins this fall.

“Between (assistant coach Austin O’Neil) and myself, we feel really great about the folks we brought in,” Elizondo said. “That is always going to be our lifeline in building this group, the culture and the performance standards.”

The freshmen will also be joined by sophomore Monica Hebner, one of the transfers to UCLA this fall. Hebner competed for Duke University in 2018, qualifying for the NCAA Track and Field Championships in the 10,000 meter.

Despite the new additions, the Bruins have 10 seniors or redshirt seniors on their roster. Lawson said he will focus on preparing himself to maintain the strength of the team even after many of the program’s top athletes will soon depart.

“Here in Mammoth, you wake up, eat, run, take a nap, run again, eat dinner and repeat that for 30 days,” Lawson said. “It’s a team bonding experience (and my goal for this season is) to gather as much information as I can from the top guys. Just being consistent and mature with my training, (I’m striving) to be a role model for the underclassmen and freshmen.”

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Jared Tay | Sports senior staff
Tay is currently a Sports senior staff writer on the men's basketball beat. He was previously an assistant Sports editor for the baseball, men's soccer, men's tennis, cross country and women's tennis beats. Tay was previously a contributor on the men's tennis beat.
Tay is currently a Sports senior staff writer on the men's basketball beat. He was previously an assistant Sports editor for the baseball, men's soccer, men's tennis, cross country and women's tennis beats. Tay was previously a contributor on the men's tennis beat.
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