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Senior captain Valerie Flores will be competing at the Pac-10 cross country meet in Washington th

Summer is supposed to be a time of relaxation and recuperation.

But not for cross country runner Valerie Flores.

The UCLA senior spent the summer months training for her final collegiate cross country season, and so far, the hard work has paid off. Flores’ times have improved dramatically this year, and her performance has helped the No. 15 Bruins emerge as one of the Pac-10’s best squads heading into the conference championships Saturday in Pullman, Wash.

“The way she is running today is the athlete she has always wanted to be,” coach Eric Peterson said.

Running has been Flores’ life for the past four years as a member of the UCLA track and cross country squads. The San Pedro native gets a total of two weeks off from training a year.

Flores sites the grueling summer that the team endured as the reason for her development. In addition to spending two weeks as a team at Mammoth Lakes to take advantage of the high altitude, they ran individually throughout the summer. By mid-summer, Flores was running mornings and afternoons, logging a total of 85 miles per week.

“I ran and ran and ran,” Flores said. “That was my life. I can’t imagine not waking up and going for a run.”

Peterson also has been impressed with her dedication.

“The thing that is so impressive is that she has made a strong commitment to her training”, said Peterson. “She has adopted the lifestyle of a world class runner.”

While Flores has control over the amount that she trains, experience and mental preparedness can only come with time. She has put in this time.

“Racing mentality is so much different, so much more competitive,” she said. “I have learned to focus on the competition.”

She has also learned to beat the competition.

At the beginning of the season, the Bruins topped then-No. 1 BYU. They followed this victory with a win over Pac-10 powerhouse Stanford at a meet the Cardinal hosted. Flores led the team with a personal-best time of 21:13.

“To beat Stanford was always something that we had wanted to do, especially at their own course and at their own invitational,” Flores said.

Flores is quick not to take sole credit for the team’s victory.

“Everyone was on,” she said. “We all felt great.”

Looking ahead to this Saturday’s Pac-10 Championship, hosted by Washington State, Flores has reason to feel great. UCLA has risen in the rankings to No. 15 and is expecting to receive an invitation to the NCAA Championships held Nov. 15.

This is not supposed to happen to a team that is missing two All-Americans. Lena Nilson, the Bruins’ top runner last year, is busy training to run in the Olympics for Sweden. Alejandra Barrientos, another solid contributor, will likely redshirt this year because of injuries.

This has put the pressure on Flores, who is one of only two seniors on the squad, to play a larger role. Peterson, who described Flores as “a hardworking, dedicated athlete,” challenged her to carry more of the load.

“I had to step up to the plate,” she said. “I have more responsibility. It encourages me to do better. As a senior and a team leader, it’s my job.”

She does her job well, leading the Bruins with an impressive 14th place finish at the Pre-National Meet with a time of 20:31.

“She leads by example,” Peterson said. “That is where her strength in leadership comes from.”

Flores hopes that the experience the team gained at Nationals last year will help the team to improve on the disappointing finish to last season. Last year, the team placed 25th out of the 31 teams at the meet.

“You are surrounded by 200 girls that are just as good as you,” Flores said.

With Flores’ dedication, chances are she’ll do just fine.