UCLA Men Place Seventh at Regional; Bruin Women Fifth

UCLA senior Mebrahtom Keflezighi on Saturday (Nov. 15) in Tucson, AZ won the Western Regional men's cross country qualifying meet and now advances to the 1997 NCAA Championships on Monday, Nov. 24, held on the Furman University Golf Course in Greenville, SC. The men's race will start at 11 a.m. EST (8 a.m. PST) and the women's race at 12:15 p.m. EST (9:15 a.m. PST).

Keflezighi's winning time over the 10,000m course on the Dell Urich Golf Course in Tucson was 30:15.90. It was Keflezighi's first regional title of his career and he beat Washington State sophomore Bernard Lagat, who placed second (30:33.00). Two weeks ago, Lagat defeated Keflezighi, the defending conference champion, for the Pac-10 title.

Keflezighi, who prepped at San Diego HS, advances to the NCAA as one of nine regional champions. He will be one of the co-favorites, along with Colorado's Adam Goucher, Arkansas' Ryan Wilson and Michigan's Kevin Sullivan.

The greatest male distance runner in UCLA history, Keflezighi has never won the NCAA cross country championships, but he is a three-time All-American, placing 10th last season, ninth as a sophomore and 15th as a true freshman. Last year as a junior, Keflezighi won three NCAA individual titles (indoor, 5,000m; outdoor, 5,000m/10,000m), captured the Pac-10 cross country crown and was named the Pac-10 Athlete of the Year in both men's cross country and track and field.

Keflezighi is the only Bruin to advance to the upcoming NCAA Championships. At the Regional Qualifying Meet in Tucson, the Bruin men placed seventh, with 86 points and the UCLA women were fifth, with 71 points. The top two men's and women's teams at the Western Regionals automatically qualify for the NCAA. Stanford and Oregon placed first and second in both the men's (SU 34, UO 57) and women's (SU 70, UO 42) races.

Behind Keflezighi, placing for the Bruin men included -- junior Mark Hauser, eighth, 31:14.00; sophomore Will Bernaldo, 40th, 32:33.20; sophomore Dan Brecht, 46th, 32:44.70; senior Devin Elizondo, 58th, 33:03.90; senior Matt Olin, 71st, 33:23.60 and sophomore Matt Pitts, 86th, 33:51.20.

Bruin senior Katherina Kechris was the top placement for the UCLA women's team, finishing 15th over the 5,000m course in a time of 17:56.00. UCLA's other finishers included -- true freshman Julie Ott, 24th, 18:23.70; redshirt freshman Kelly Cohn, 26th, 18:26.40; sophomore Christina Bowen, 37th, 18:49.40; sophomore Melinda George, 47th, 18:58.70; freshman Katie Nuanes, 50th, 19:02.10 and sophomore Kara Barnard, 72nd, 19:21.40.