WOMEN’S X-COUNTRY Elaine Canchola (Jr.) Carman
Winant (Fr.) Lori Mann (Fr.) Jessica Marr (So.) Valerie Flores
(So.) SOURCE: UCLA Sports Info VICTOR CHEN/Daily Bruin Senior
Staff
By Michael Sneag
Daily Bruin Contributor Whoever says that running is an individual
sport obviously hasn’t seen the UCLA women’s cross
country squad this year. The Bruins have a new technique this year
and are excited about putting it into action. The common perception
that running is a solitary sport is going out the window because
the Bruins have decided that they are going to take a very
different approach this season. They have decided to make running a
team sport. The team is extremely young and inexperienced and
therefore needed a way to come together as a unit, so they have
decided to run as a pack in their races this season. Training as a
group in practice is common but doing it in races is a totally
different story because it requires self-sacrifice and a commitment
to the goals of the team instead of individual stats. “We are
working on a new tactic to run together as a team. The guys used it
last year and it worked really well (for them). We decided it would
work really well with the makeup of the team,” junior Elaine
Canchola said. This was perfectly evident in their first race on
Sept. 1 at the CS Fullerton/Jammin’ CrossCountry
Invitational. Throughout the entire first mile, all 11 racers
worked together to stay in a group and help the less experienced
runners. Apparently the method worked very well because the Bruins
finished second in the meet to powerhouse Stanford, placing all 11
runners among the top 33 finishers. Leadership and experience
returns with Canchola and sophomores Valerie Flores, Jessica Marr
and Tiffany Burgess. They have all taken on the extra
responsibility of bringing the team together as a group. “You
need both talent and experience,” freshman Alejandra
Barrientos said. “The upperclassmen have done a wonderful job
of making sure that (the freshmen) know what we are doing and
keeping us on task. They did a great job of keeping us together and
sticking with the race tactic.” “We are doing it by
committee,” head coach Eric Peterson said. “Elaine,
Tiffany and Jessica have all assumed the role of taking the younger
kids under their wing and helping them with the transition from
high school to college.” The team is going to have to rely,
however, on its incoming freshman class at some point and if the
Jammin’ Invitational was an indicator, then the Bruins are in
good shape. Barrientos was the highest placing Bruin in fifth
place, followed by Canchola (7th). Two talented freshman, Carmen
Winant (12th) and Lori Mann (14th), were right behind showing the
team that the freshmen are ready to contribute immediately. The
team tactic seems to be the way to ensure that this year’s
team grows as a group and remains close. They are hoping it will
lead to good things not only this year, but in the future as well.
“Our team is really young,” Flores said.”We had a
lot of seniors last year, and this year the comraderie is strong.
We are just having a lot of fun and that helps a lot to allow us to
grow as a team.”