UCLA
Fullerton Invitational
Bruin Men Finish Second at CS Fullerton Titan Cross Country Invitational
October 25, 2002 | Cross Country
Oct. 25, 2002
Eric Peterson's UCLA women and men's cross country teams on Friday ran in the CS Fullerton Titan Invitational, held at Carbon Canyon Regional Park in Brea. The Bruin women won the six-team field with 16 points and were led by junior Valerie Flores, who won the women's 5000m individual race. The UCLA men placed second in the seven-team field with 59 points and were paced by freshman Mohammed Qazi, who finished third in the men's 8000m event.
Bruin Women
The UCLA women won the team championship with 16 points, ahead of second-place CS San Marcos (54) and third-place Pepperdine (86). Ranked No. 19 in the nation this week, the Bruin women were led by four runners in the Top 5. Flores (San Pedro HS) won the women's 5000m race in a time of 18:12.9. She was followed by - junior Tiffany Burgess (Van Nuys/Birmingham HS) in second-place (18:24.2), freshman Laura Muller (Woodland HS) in third-place (18:40.2) and freshman Leslie Barrie (Torrance HS) in fourth-place (18:43.9).
"We wanted to have a strong team showing today," said Bruin head coach Eric Peterson, in his ninth season coaching the UCLA women's team. "The top individuals from this group today will complete our team for the upcoming Pac-10 Championships. It was great to see Valerie and Tiffany pushing the pace from the beginning and being in total control the entire race. I'm pleased with the low team score and win. This team victory shows the depth of our program."
Bruin Men
UCLA placed second in the men's team standings with 59 points, behind winner CS Marcos (24) and ahead of third-place finisher UC Santa Barbara (64).
UCLA had two runners in the Top 10. Qazi, a walkon from West Torrance HS who joined the team just two weeks ago, placed third in a time of 25:54.5. Finishing ninth was sophomore Reggie Oronoz (Pasadena/Loyola HS), in a time of 26:09.6.
"This was Qazi's first race ever as a member of our team," said Peterson, in his third season coaching both the Bruin men and women's teams. "He's earned a chance to be in the pool of runners who could represent our men's team at next week's Pac-10 meet."
Looking Ahead
Several of UCLA's top varsity performers did not run Friday, but will train through the weekend, preparing for the upcoming 2002 Pacific-10 Cross Country Championships on Nov. 2. UCLA is the host school for the conference championships at Brookside Country Club in Pasadena (adjacent to the Rose Bowl). A 6000m gender combined "B" race starts at 8:30 a.m. (for runners not competing in the women's and men's conference championship races), the Pac-10 Women's Championships (6000m) begins at 9:30 a.m. and the Pac-10 Men's Championships (8000m) starts at 10:30 a.m.
The race will feature some of the nation's top collegiate cross country teams and runners. In the women's division, according to this week's National Top 30, there are four Pac-10 teams rated - No. 2 Stanford, No. 17 Arizona State, No. 19 UCLA and No. 25 Washington, and in the men's division, there are three conference teams in the nation's Top 30 - No. 1 Stanford, No. 5 Oregon, No. 25 Arizona State and Washington receiving votes.
Stanford won both the women's and men's team titles at the 2001 Pac-10 Cross Country Championships and the Cardinal returns both individual winners - women's champion Lauren Fleshman and men's winner's Grant Robinson.
Following the Pac-10 Championships, Stanford will host the NCAA West Regional Qualifying meet on Nov. 16 to decide what West Coast teams will advance to the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, IN on Nov. 25. The UCLA women have advanced as a team to the NCAA Championship meet three of the last four years.
CS Fullerton Titan Invitational
Oct. 25
Carbon Canyon Regional Park
Brea, CA
Women's Team Scoring
1. UCLA 16
2. CS San Marcos 54
3. Pepperdine 86
4. UC Santa
Barbara 93
5. CS Fullerton 149
6. Loyola Marymount 164
Women Individually (5000m, Top 5)
1. Valerie Flores, UCLA, 18:12.9
2. Tiffany Burgess, UCLA, 18:24.2
3.
Laura Muller, UCLA, 18:40.2
4. Leslie Barrie, UCLA, 18:43.9
5. Desiree
DeJesus, UCSB, 18:47.7
UCLA Individually
1. Valerie Flores, 18:12.9
2. Tiffany Burgess, 18:24.2
3. Laura
Muller, 18:40.2
4. Leslie Barrie, 18:43.9
6. Carolyn Shea, 18:57.7
18. Jenny Esser, 19:32.1
20. Ashley Allen, 19:33.8
28. Maribeth Buche,
19:53.5
Men's Team Scoring
1. CS San Marcos 24
2. UCLA 59
3. UC Santa Barbara
4. Pepperdine 94
5. Men of Troy 141
6. Alliante International 156
7. Loyola Marymount
185
Men Individually (8000m, Top 5)
1. Aaron Sharp, UNAT, 25:29.1
2. Rene Reyes, CSSM, 25:36.4
3. Mohammed
Qazi, UCLA, 25:54.5
4. Robby McClendon, CSSM, 25:56.6
5. Stewart
Harwell, UNAT, 26:00.6
UCLA Individually
3. Mohammed Qazi, 25:54.5
9. Reggie Oronoz, 26:09.6
16. Nick De
Felice, 26:35.1
17. Bryan Bauerle, 26:36.5
36. Lucas Crowley, 27:23.9
45. Nico Cueva, 27:57.1
48. Nick Thornton, 28:09.3
