Sept. 4, 2010
Brea, Calif. - UCLA easily swept both the women's and men's races Saturday morning at the Fullerton Season Opener Cross Country Meet, which drew more than 500 runners to Carbon Canyon Regional Park in Brea.
The Bruins' women ran 1-2-3-4-14 to total only 24 points to easily outdistance runnerup Long Beach State at 71 and host Cal State Fullerton at 98. The Bruins' Shannon Murakami won the 6K race in 21:24.5, besting teammate Melissa Skiba by more than 30 seconds on a very warm morning.
The Bruins ran 2-3-5-6-7 and also had the 8th and 10th runners in the men's race for 23 points to crush runnerup Long Beach State at 68 points and Fullerton at 92. John Gilbertson of the Master's led the collegians in 25:42.4 but trailed unattached Diego Mercado, who won the race virtually wire-to-wire and by more than 30 seconds with a time of 25:11.5.
Host Fullerton was led by Yomaira Hernandez' 8th place in the women's race in 22:55.5 and a 9th by Tyler Reed in the men's 8K in 26:12.2.
The races were preceded by a moment of silence in memory of those lost in the van collision in August near Bishop between members of Cal Baptist and Cathedral High School cross country teams. Cal Baptist placed fourth in the men's race and 12th in the women's race in the Lancers' first competition since the accident.