The UCLA cross country teams have a problem.

With so many talented runners possessing the potential to contribute, the coaches are having a tough time deciding who is going to represent UCLA in the upcoming Pac-10 Championship and NCAA Regionals.

According to assistant coach Johnny Gray, that’s a good problem to have. UCLA scheduled two races on Saturday in an attempt to separate the men from the boys and the women from the girls.

“Last year, we had a team that was the team, no matter what. Even if one of the kids had a bad day, they were still going to represent,” Gray said. “The difference is that now, we’ve got so much that if you slip, you can get stripped. One guy’s spot can be lost if you don’t step your game up.”

Coach Forest Braden took most of the Bruins’ top runners with him to Terre Haute, Ind., for the NCAA Pre-Nationals, hosted by Indiana State University.

In the men’s race, UCLA placed 11th with a score of 375 points and a time of 123:24.4. The only Bruin to finish in the top 60 was redshirt junior Kent Morikawa, who crossed the finish line in 29th place with a time of 24:14.2.

UCLA took 19th place in the women’s race, with a score of 520 points and a time of 108:31.2. For the second tournament in a row, the top finisher was senior Shannon Murakami, who finished in 33rd place with a time of 20:53.7.

Back on the West Coast, the rest of the UCLA cross country teams was competing at the Bronco Invitational hosted by Santa Clara University in Sunnyvale.

The men finished in 12th place with a team score of 269 points and a time of 125:29.4.

Freshman Pablo Rosales led the Bruins when he finished in 26th place with a time of 24:36.5, despite a hip injury he had been nursing since the Notre Dame Invitational on Oct. 1.

“It was a tough week, a lot of hard work,” Rosales said. “Just trying to get rested, not trying to overdo it, keeping my hip on a close watch, making sure I wasn’t straining it during practice.”

In the women’s race, UCLA finished in 19th place with a team score of 495 points and a time of 95:01.3.

The top performers for the Bruins were freshman Elle Sanders (18:27.2) and sophomore Allison Lopez (18:31.9), who finished 71st and 78th, respectively.

Scheduling two races this weekend was an opportunity for some of the less experienced runners to show what they can do.

If they were going to impress the coaches, this was their chance.
For freshman Joel Ambo, who raced in the Bronco Invitational but did not represent UCLA, this weekend was just that.

“That would be amazing (to compete in the NCAA Championship). I would love that,” Ambo said. “But I have to prove myself first; I’m working on that.”

It’s safe to say that Ambo is not the only one working on proving himself.

And for UCLA, that’s a good problem to have.