UCLA
NCAA Championships
Bruin Trio Heads to NCAA Championships
November 20, 2019 | Cross Country
2019 NCAA Cross Country Championships
Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019 โ 11:15 a.m. ET (women) / 12:15 p.m. ET (men)
Terre Haute, Ind. (LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course)
LIVE COVERAGE
Live stream: FloTrack ($)
Live results: via Record PrimeTime Timing
BRUINS TO COMPETE FOR NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
Three individuals from the UCLA cross program will head to Terre Haute, Ind. for the NCAA Championships. Representing the men's team will be redshirt senior Colin Burke and senior Garrett Reynolds. Junior Christina Rice will represent the women's squad. The national meet will be held on Saturday, November 23 at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course and is hosted by Indiana State.
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
8:00 a.m ET / 5:00 a.m. PT - Championship course opens
11:15 a.m. ET / 8:15 a.m. PT - Women's 6k Championship Race
12:15 p.m. ET / 9:15 a.m. PT - Men's 10k Championship Race
Approx. 1:15 p.m. ET / 10:15 a.m. PT - Presentation of Awards
RICE EARNS FIRST NCAA BID
Following a stellar junior campaign and Top 10 finish at the West Regionals, Christina Rice has earned her first NCAA Championship bid. Rice narrowly missed a spot in last year's Championship after finishing 23rd overall at the NCAA West Regional but solidified her position this season with a strong race at the regional meet. Rice finished the 6K race in 20:06.2, just half a second off her personal-best time.
Rice, a junior from Santa Barbara, Calif. (Dos Pueblos HS), has led UCLA in all four meets in which she has participated this season. Her eighth-place finish at the Regional was the highest by a Bruin since Ashley Caldwell placed third in 2005. Rice earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors for the second-straight season after her 17th-place finish at the Pac-12 Championships (20:07.2), and she also had a 10th-place showing at the Bill Dellinger Invitational with a career-best time of 20:05.7.
During the 2019 track season, Rice made her way into UCLA's Top 10 lists for indoor 5000m (3rd, 16:31.55) and outdoor 5000m (7th, 16:19.00). In 2018, she achieved a No. 4 time in the outdoor 10K (34:14.52).
BURKE, REYNOLDS TO COMPETE IN THIRD CHAMPIONSHIP RACE
Seniors Colin Burke and Garrett Reynolds will compete their final cross country race as Bruins at the NCAA Championships, their third time competing at the national meet in their careers. The Bruin duo competed with the UCLA team in both 2016 and 2017.
Burke, a redshirt senior from Pleasanton, Calif. (Bishop O'Dowd HS), placed fifth at the NCAA West Regional with a time of 29:58.5 on the 10K course. He earned UCLA's best finish since Ferdinand Edman also placed fifth in 2016. Burke has competed in five meets, recording three Top 10 finishes, including a seventh-place showing at the Bill Dellinger Invitational (23:38.5) and a first-place finish at the season-opening dual meet against UC Riverside (16:16.06 6K).
Reynolds, a senior from Ventura, Calif. (Ventura HS), placed 11th at the NCAA West Regional with a time of 30:01.9 on the 10K course to earn All-Region honors. Reynolds has competed in five meets, recording three Top 10 and four Top 12 finishes, including a 10th-place finish at the Pac-12 Championships, where he clocked a career-best time of 23:21.0 and earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors for the second time in his career. He also had a fifth-place showing at the Bill Dellinger Invitational (23:35.3) and a second-place finish at the season-opening dual meet against UC Riverside (16:16.31 6K).
At the 2017 NCAA Championships, Burke was UCLA's No. 2 runner, placing 103rd with a time of 30:44.99. Reynolds was No. 3 for the Bruins, finishing 121st overall with a time of 30:54.79). The Bruin men finished 21st overall that season. In 2016, the team finished 15th overall, with Reynolds finishing as the Bruins' third runner and 126th overall (31:05.0). Burke was fourth for the Bruins in 141st place (31:10.8).
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY
UCLA has qualified 13 men's teams and 11 women's teams into the NCAA Championships. most recently in 2017 for the men and 2016 for the women. The women have had an individual qualifier in each of the last two years, with Christina Rice this season and Erika Adler in 2018. The UCLA men's squad reached peak finishes at Nationals in 1980-81, with back-to-back fifth-place showings under Hall of Fame Bruin coach Bob Larsen. The Bruin women's squad's best finish came in 1985, when they took sixth under coach Bob Messina. American distance running legend and UCLA alumnus Meb Keflezighi holds the Bruins' only individual NCAA title, as he took home the 1997 National Championship.
NCAA WEST REGIONALS RECAP
UCLA had a total of three Top 12 individual finishes at the NCAA Cross Country West Regional at Colfax Golf Club, as the Bruin men placed eighth and the women 11th. The 10th-ranked Bruin men were led for the second-straight year by Colin Burke, who was UCLA's top finisher with a fifth-place finish (29:58.5) on the 10k course. Garrett Reynolds earned an 11th-place finish with a time of 30:01.9, his second career Top 15 regional showing. Redshirt senior George Gleason was the Bruins' No. 3 scorer, placing 34th with a time of 30:37.4. UCLA was competing without top runner Robert Brandt due to injury. On the women's side, Christina Rice paced the Bruins with an eighth-place finish, UCLA's highest individual regional finish in 14 years. Rice ran the 6k race in 20:06.2. UCLA's No. 2 finisher was Jackie Garner, who placed 64th with a time of 21:11.3.
BRUIN ACCOLADES
All-Region
Colin Burke
Garrett Reynolds
Christina Rice
First Team All-Pac-12
Robert Brandt
Second Team All-Pac-12
Garrett Reynolds
Christina Rice
Players Mentioned
