Lalang finds newfound inspiration in former runner Robert Cheseret
The Arizona cross-country teams will race in the NCAA West Regionals on Saturday in Palo Alto, Calif.
The No. 16 women’s cross-country team will look for redemption after slipping in the Pac-12 Championships with a fifth-place finish, and freshman Lawi Lalang will continue to lead the men’s team in his first 10,000-meter race.
“We’ve trained harder than a 10K. But this will be his first 10K race ever, anywhere,” said head cross country coach James Li.
The track and field program received school-wide recognition when former UA runner Robert Cheseret was inducted into the UA Sports Hall of Fame during Homecoming on Saturday. While on campus, Cheseret offered Lalang encouraging words as he prepared for the NCAA West Regionals.
“Robert is a major source of inspiration. All of my fellow runners motivate me more than anyone,” Lalang said.
Cheseret was the last Wildcat to win a Pac-12 Championship in 2005 before Lalang took the title earlier this month.
Junior Jen Bergman is the women’s lead runner with sophomore Elvin Kibet following close behind.
“We haven’t been doing anything special the past week. Hopefully Elvin won’t be as nervous this week,” Li said.
The men will race first in a 10k at 10 a.m. and the women are scheduled to race at 11:15 a.m. in 6,000-meter.
— Emi Komiya
Hockey completes home stand
The No. 20 Wildcats finish their six-game homestand at the Tucson Convention Center this weekend against Colorado Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Colorado State Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
The UA hockey team has been on a hot streak as of late, winning five of its last six games after starting the season 1-3-1. However, Colorado and Colorado State should pose a little more of a challenge than fellow Division II teams Texas and Weber State did in Tucson.
Colorado has a 5-5-0 record on the season after losing 5-4 on the road to Colorado State last Sunday. Meanwhile, Colorado State is 8-2-1 and is riding a six-game win streak. Both teams beat the UA’s last opponent Weber State, with Colorado winning 4-1 and Colorado State winning 6-2.
The UA has outscored its opponents 48-2 at home this season and was on an extended 237-minute shutout streak before Weber State ended it late in the second period last Saturday.
The Wildcats outscored their opponents 47-0 during that stretch.
— Kyle Johnson
Swimming gets two top-10 rankings, face Southern California schools
The Arizona swim and dive teams will take on USC at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center on Friday. On both sides, it will be a battle between two top-10 teams. The No. 3-ranked Arizona men will compete against a No. 8 Trojans squad, while the No. 8 women face a No. 5 USC team.
“We just want to beat USC, and swim well,” said men’s swimmer Giles Smith.
Sprint coach Rick DeMont is not taking the competition lightly.
“We’re at a point in our season where we’re starting to sharpen up for a peak performance in Texas so what we’re hoping is that we can be a little bit quicker this time,” he said. “The competition is much more formidable, a much more serious affair.”
The Wildcat women will also face 25th-ranked UCLA Saturday morning. Junior Ellyn Baumgardner says that fatigue will not be a factor.
“It’s tough. We’re gonna have to warm down a lot Friday and recover well and stay loose,” she said. “I think the racing aspect gets everyone ready to go fast the next day.”
— Cameron Moon
Men’s tennis players hit clay courts for Collegiate Classic
Men’s tennis players Andre Vidaller and Giacomo Miccini will head to Sarasota, Fla., to participate in the Dick Vitale Lakewood Ranch Collegiate Clay Court Classic from Nov. 11-13.
The two sophomores will compete in singles as well as team up to play in doubles.
“This is an invitational with smaller draws and it’s played on clay as opposed to concrete,” said assistant coach Tom Lloyd. “We felt Andre and Giacomo had the biggest advantage playing on that type of court.”
These two Wildcats will face a field of competitors from Pepperdine, Florida, Duke, Alabama, Ole Miss., Georgia, Minnesota, Miami, Virginia, Temple and Oklahoma State.
“This will be a good way to finish the fall season,” said head coach Tad Berkowitz. “We will see how we match up to these top ranked schools and compete in the spring.”
— Iman Hamdan
