UCLA Runs at Wisconsin Adidas Invite
October 15, 2015 | Cross Country
LOS ANGELES – The UCLA cross country team will head to Madison, Wisc., to participate in the seventh annual Wisconsin Adidas Invitational. The meet showcasing a talented field will be held on Friday, Oct. 16 at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course.
“This meet marks the start of the truly competitive time of year for us,” coach Forest Braden said. “We have put a lot of work in and have been very patient from July to this point. Now it is time to lace 'em up and go for it. We have men's and women's squad that has been improving each week and I am looking for the trend to continue in Madison.”
UCLA will be one of 36 teams in both the men and women's races. The men's field sports 17 of the top 30 teams in the country while the women's race will have 20 of the top-25 ranked squads. The Bruin men enter the meet ranked 20th in the country.
The women's 6k will start things off for the Bruins at 11 a.m. CT and will be followed by the men's 8k at 11:45 a.m. CT.
“I am excited to see how our men look with two more weeks of fitness and a little sharpening,” Braden said. “We have a lot of room to improve from our performance at Washington so this will be a nice little gauge on where we are at and how much we have improved.”
Last year at the Wisconsin Invitational the Bruin men placed seventh overall. Nick Hartle led the Bruins with a 15th place finish with a time of 24:06 on the 8K course. The women placed 20th overall and were led by senior Kelsey Smith.
“On the women's side, I am looking for a resilient group at Wisconsin,” Braden explained. “I am certain we will bounce back from a subpar team performance at Washington. The girls have trained really well the past two weeks and are now better prepared to race this weekend than they were in Seattle. We are also excited for the debut of freshman Carolina Johnson, who will make an immediate impact for us this Friday.”
UCLA is coming off the Washington Invite two weekends ago where the men placed fourth and the women took 10th. Lane Werley was a top-10 finisher by placing third overall with a time of 23:21.80 on the 8k course.
The Bruins will stay local next week as they will compete in the Titan Invitational. The meet that is hosted by Cal State Fullerton, will be held on Friday, Oct. 23 and begin at 4:45 p.m.