It’s fitting that Shannon Murakami and Kelcie Wiemann ran together last weekend at the NCAA West Regionals.

Running stride for stride through the mud, they finished within four seconds of each other. This would be their last time racing together this season, as neither the men’s nor the women’s cross country teams advanced to the NCAA Nationals.

But for these two runners, this race was different. Murakami and Wiemann are outliers on a women’s cross country team that sent five freshman to the NCAA West Regionals this past weekend.

Murakami, a senior, and Wiemann, a redshirt senior, are graduating this year and ran this weekend’s race knowing that it may be their last.

“It was a good feeling knowing that not only was my teammate right next to me the whole time, but the only other senior on the team,” said Murakami. “It’s nice to know that somebody who’s going through the same feelings about the race that I was is right there stride (for) stride.”

The men’s and women’s cross country teams concluded their seasons after placing eighth and 10th respectively at the NCAA West Regionals. While the NCAA Championships later this month also accept individual runners, no Bruins were eligible to be selected.

“The goal of both the men and the women (was) to make Nationals and we didn’t do that,” said coach Forest Braden. “We had great Pac-10 meets for the men and the women, and really showed that we’re a force to be reckoned with, and we’re going to continue to be a force to be reckoned with.”

Both the men’s and the women’s seasons were defined by the underclassmen that filled their rosters.

This season, inexperienced freshmen routinely comprised the majority of the lineup at most events. Murakami knew she had only a short time to share her four years of knowledge with her teammates, and she took a leadership role upon herself this season in an attempt to divulge her wisdom to the younger runners.

“I wanted to pass on what I had learned over the past three years, and it was kind of hard to do that for me, because it’s my last year and I’m not going to be here to guide (my teammates) next year,” Murakami said. “It was more of a teaching year in my eyes, and I think they’re going to run absolutely amazing next year.”
The runners Murakami is referring to have three years ahead of them, likely four years for a few. But for Wiemann, five years have passed, filled with determination and perseverance.

Wiemann said that as a freshman she was the slowest runner on the team. She overcame a torn ACL and meniscus early in her UCLA career and has developed into one of the more reliable runners on the team. Wiemann didn’t take the easy road to get to her final finish line, but she doesn’t seem to mind.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Wiemann said. “I learned how to push myself, get through everything. It was a great five years, I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.”