University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Women Fourth, Men Seventh At Pac-10 Championship
October 30, 1999 | Football
Oct. 30, 1999
Meet Results
Eric Peterson's UCLA women's team, ranked No. 14 in the U. S., on Saturday placed fourth, with Bob Larsen's Bruin men's team placing seventh, at the 1999 Pacific-10 Conference Championship meet, held at El Dorado Park in Long Beach.
The Bruin women placed fourth with 98 points. Stanford, ranked No. 1 in the nation, won the women's division with 32 points, followed by No. 11 Arizona State (second-place, 62), No. 9 Washington (third-place, 70), UCLA in fourth position, Arizona (fifth-place, 119), No. 23 Oregon (sixth-place, 135), Washington State (seventh-place, 205), USC (eighth-place, 228) and California (ninth-place, 228). The UCLA placement was a dramatic improvement from last season, when the Bruin women placed eighth, but came back two weeks later to place fifth at the NCAA Western Regional Qualifying meet. That finish enabled the UCLA women to advance to the 1998 NCAA Cross Country championships as a team, the first time a Bruin women's squad has advanced since 1988.
The Bruin women had three runners in the Top 15, led by sophomore transfer Kate Vermeulen, who finished the 5000m course in 17:25.10. A transfer from West Virginia, Vermeulen in 1999 won the NCAA Indoor mile. Also placing in the Top 15 for the UCLA women were juniors, Kelly Cohn (13th, 17:54.10) and Katie Nuanes (15th, 17:58.60). UCLA other placements were senior Kara Barnard in 24th (18:16), sophomore Elaine Canchola in 40th (19:02.40), senior Melinda George in 41st (19:10.70) and freshman Stefani Clark in 48th position (19:58.40).
Stanford sophomore Erin Sullivan led a one-two-three Cardinal women's sweep. It was Stanford's fourth consecutive Pac-10 women's championship and the sixth in the last seven years. Sullivan won the individual title with a time of 17:01.50.
In the men's scoring, the Bruins placed seventh with 193 points. It was also an improvement for UCLA's men, after placing eighth last season. No. 6 Arizona won the men's title with 36 points, upsetting No. 2 Stanford, placing second with 63 points. No. 12 Oregon was third (76), followed by No. 9 Arizona State (fourth-place, 84), California (fifth-place, 119), Washington (sixth-place, 133), UCLA in seventh and Washington State (eighth-place, 199). Individually over the 8000m course, the Bruin men had two runners in the Top 35 and all seven finish in the Top 50. Leading the way for UCLA's men were junior Mason Moore, placing 30th (25:33.30) and sophomore Justin Patananan in 35th (25:45.70). Also placing for UCLA were sophomore Bryan Green (40th, 25:56.60), senior Matt Pitts (42nd, 26:00.70), senior Dan Brecht (46th, 26:38.20) and junior Scott Abbott (47th, 26:41.50).
The Wildcats placed four runners in the Top 10 to stop Stanford's attempt to win its fourth consecutive Pac-10 men's title. It was Arizona's seventh Pac-10 men's championship. Oregon senior Steve Fein won the men's individual race in a time of 23:37.00.
UCLA's next competition will take place Nov. 13 at the 1999 NCAA Western Regional Qualifying meet, held in Portland, OR. After that, the 1999 NCAA Championships will take place on Nov. 22 in Bloomington, IN.
