UCLA
Pre-NCAA Invitational
Austin Ramos Leads Cross Country Team at Pre-Nationals
October 15, 2005 | Cross Country
Oct. 15, 2005
Junior Austin Ramos led the Bruin men with a 15th-place finish (24:06) in Terre Haute, IN at the Pre-National Invitational on Saturday. The UCLA cross country team placed 13th overall, finishing ahead of Pac-10 rival Oregon.
The No. 5 ranked Stanford men won the meet with 89 points, while BYU's Josh Rohatinsky won the individual race in a time of 23:31.
Ramos, running against some of the top runners in the nation, has had a successful season and he continued his strong performances on Saturday.
"It was great to see Austin up in the front, battling with some of the best in the country," said Head Cross Country Coach Eric Peterson. "He is establishing himself as an athlete who can compete with the very best and perform well."
Although the men's team did not finish as high as Coach Peterson had hoped, there were still positives from the race.
"We beat some teams we lost to at the Roy Griak Invitational last month and closed the gaps on the teams in our region ahead of us (like Cal Poly SLO). It was great to finish ahead of Oregon and showed that with a strong team performance we can have good finishes."
Standout freshman Laef Barnes returned to competition after missing several weeks with a leg injury and was the Bruins' No. 4 runner (25:17).
"It was great to have Laef back after missing so much training," said Peterson. "He went out aggressively and ran for the team and it paid off."
Also having a strong showing on Saturday were sophomores Mike Haddan (5th 24:39) and Kyle Shackleton (58th, 24:43), who were the No. 2 and No. 3 runners for UCLA.
The Bruins will next head to the CS Fullerton Invite for a final tune-up before the post-season begins.
Team Results - Top 5 of 33 teams
1. Stanford 89; 2. BYU, 174; 3. Georgetown, 222; 4. Kansas, 231; 5. Dartmouth, 237; 13. UCLA, 384.
Individual Results - Top 5 of 217
1. Josh Rohatinsky, BYU (23:31); 2. Kip Kangogo, TCU (23:39); 3. Westly Keating, Texas-Pan American (23:42); 4. Andrew Lemoncello, Florida St. (23:48); 5. Marcel Hewamudaligo, Rice (23:51); 15. Austin Ramos, UCLA (24:06).
UCLA Results
15. Austin Ramos, 24:06; 56. Mike Haddan, 24:39; 58. Kyle Shackleton, 24:43; 126. Laef Barnes, 25:17; 129. Nick DeFelice, 25:18; 156. Drew Shackleton, 25:39; 200. Matt Stollenwerk, 26:28.
