Cross-country off to Pac-10s

Friday, October 28, 1994

Cross-country off to Pac-10s

Postseason begins

in Palo Alto with

conference finals

By Mark Singerton

It's now or never for the UCLA men's cross-country team. They're unranked and have only an outside shot at winning the Pac-10 championships Saturday, but the team is surprisingly relaxed heading into the event.

"I think we have a shot at winning," freshman Brandon Del Campo said. "I know as far as the freshmen go, we're ready to step up."

Indeed, statistics point to an emergence in the freshman harriers, who have been one of the few bright spots for the Bruins in 1994. At least three freshmen have scored in every one of their meets, and top newcomer Mebrahtom Keflezighi has placed no lower than fifth all season.

Keflezighi hopes to win at Stanford this time, but knows that to do so he will probably have to overtake Martin Keino of Arizona, who beat him by 22 seconds four weeks ago.

"I don't know if I'll beat him, but I know I won't lose by that margin again," Keflezighi said. "I think we're in for a close race."

If history repeats itself this weekend, the Bruins should do no worse than place third. At the Stanford Invitational Oct. 1, UCLA finished behind only the No. 17 Cardinal and eventual winner, No. 11 Arizona, and toppled third-ranked Brigham Young by 28 points.

But the third-place finish may have been inconsequential. Second place Stanford blew out the Bruins that day, finishing a full 78 points ahead. The fight for first was, as usual, between the Cardinal and the Wildcats, who are the favorites Saturday. But this time, the field will be stuffed with even more talent, with No. 17 Oregon and No. 19 Washington entering the foray.

The No. 13 Bruin women will be in a dogfight themselves in Palo Alto. After finishing second to the Cardinal at the Stanford Invitational, 87-63, UCLA is looking to strip the defending Pac-10 champions of their crown.

This year, the No. 8 Cardinal are led by freshmen Sarna Renfro and Kortney Dunscombe, who placed third and fifth against UCLA at Palo Alto. Stanford is arguably the deepest team in the conference, but UCLA should also expect challenges from Arizona and Oregon.

"Realistically speaking, I know we can match up our talent with Stanford and Arizona, but I'd consider the meet a success if we come out second," UCLA coach Eric Peterson said.

The team itself is hoping for much more.

"I've never been on a team that had this kind of talent before, where I know we can just go in and win the whole event," senior Karen Hecox said. "We're going to be underdogs, but the teams are so closely matched that we could finish first or fourth, depending on how the others do."

The Bruin supporting cast will have to step it up if UCLA has any chance of winning. No. 3 runner Maya Muneno has been solid all season, finishing 29th at the BYU Invitational Oct. 15, and No. 5 Anna Delgado has surged of late, placing third for the squad in its past two races.

"It's so hard to get everybody on the team to perform well on the same day," Peterson said. "But I expect everyone to show up for this one."