Nov. 20, 2000

2000 Cross Country Seasonal Recap

Men's Explosive Season Fizzles to a Premature End

The UCSB men's cross country season concluded on Saturday with a less than impressive performance at the NCAA West Regional Championships. It was a painful end to a season that primarily yielded success and over-achieving. The men finished 9th, far too low to be considered for an at-large birth at the NCAA Championships. With the exception of Junior-transfer Aaron Sharp posting a breakthrough race with a 43rd place and a 32:07 10k time, none of the men performed well.

Despite the premature finish, the overall season offered inspiration for the future. Even though the Gauchos did not meet their seasonal goal of qualifying for the NCAA meet, they have what few other teams have: a second chance. The Gauchos' top seven featured no seniors and all athletes will return next year.

More inspiration can be drawn from the majority of the team's races. The Gauchos, a team composed of almost all walk-on athletes (Aaron Sharp being the only exception at Regionals), showed that they have the tools to compete in the upper levels of NCAA competition. Seasonal highlights included finishing second at the prestigious Stanford Invitational, ahead of quality programs such as UCLA, Cal Poly SLO, Utah State and UC Davis. The Gauchos made their best case for being a national class program at the Pre-NCAA meet where they tied for 20th, ahead of  7 teams that went on to qualify for the NCAA Meet from other regions (South Florida, Wake Forrest, Illinois State, Alabama, Minnesota, Missouri, and Dartmouth).

The team was led by a trio of athletes who repeatedly carried the team to success. Junior Eric Gans emerged as the team's leader with breakthrough races at Stanford Invite (finish 6th), Pre-NCAA's (25th), and Big West Conference Championships (2nd). Gans' Pre-NCAA meet was nothing less than national caliber, and his conference finish was the highest of any Gaucho since 1995 when Brad Glosser and Dave Cullum finished first and second. Junior Josh Horton has been in the spotlight since his illustrious track season, and continued his success by winning the Fresno Invitational, finishing 5th at the Stanford Invite, 63rd at Pre-NCAA's, and gaining All Conference Honors for the fourth time with a 7th place finish at the Big West Championships. Perhaps the most inspiring season came from sophomore Brandon von Guenthner. Von Guenthner illustrated what rewards can be achieved when an athlete engages in the proper Gaucho training regime. After an average track season (15:06 5k/ 9:26 steeple), von Guenthner performed at an extraordinary level by achieving All-Conference Honors, finishing 18th at the Stanford Invite, 89th at Pre-NCAA's and 7th at the Fresno Invite.

All three of these athletes will return faster and more determined next season. A talented pool of 10-15 men will look to provide a deeper team. Unfortunately the lack of depth is what proved to be the team's weakness this year, and improvements will be required for the team to achieve the national status they desire. 

Despite the sour ending, the Cross Country 2000 season was a memorable one and the team would like to thank of the parents, alumni, and supporters who contributed to making it as great as possible. The Gauchos will now take a brief rest and then begin training for the 2001 track season. A preliminary and unofficial list of meets is available on the track website.