Chloe Bullock has done it again. Four weeks after the University of Redlands senior broke the Women’s Cross Country 5K record, she claimed the 6K title.
Finishing 17 out of 256 runners with a time of 21:25.6, Bullock set the 6K record at the Oct. 19 Riverside Highlander Invitational. This was the same course where she broke the 5K record (17:45.40), at the Sept. 21 UC Riverside Invitational. Prior to this year, Maria Ramierez ‘19 held both the 5K and 6K Women’s Cross Country Records with times of 17:48.7 and 21:25.8, respectively.
Bullock was surprised upon breaking the 5K record, but she knew she was close to the 6K record as she neared the end of the race. After crossing the finish line, Bullock said her coach, Mike Schmidt, came over smiling and gave her a big hug as he shared the news.
Reflecting on her performance, Bullock said she experimented with her racing technique and mindset. Imagining herself like a car, she said, made the effort feel more mechanical than physical and hence easier. Dominic Lopez, the assistant coach for Track & Field and Cross Country, told Bullock he thought this was her best cross country race.
“I think this was the first time that I wasn’t scared to put myself out there,” Bullock said. “When I was having a hard time, instead of falling back, I just kind of reveled in the hurt of it.”
Both of Bullock’s parents, David and Wedny Bullock, have now seen their daughter set new school records. Bullock’s mother watched the Sept. 21 UC Riverside Invitational while her father attended the Oct. 19 race. Bullock commended her parents’ support, adding that they have alternated traveling from Oregon to her races and those of her younger brother, Jackson, a freshman on the cross country team at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.
The UC Riverside cross country course holds a special place in Bullock’s heart. It’s the only course the Bulldogs race twice each Cross Country season, and with this being Bullock’s eighth time, she has become very familiar with it.
“I’m standing on the start line and I know what it feels like to be on that hill and be stuck there,” she said. “So there’s less shock involved.”
Bullock was joined by several teammates in achieving new personal bests as the Lady Bulldogs placed eighth out of 24 teams. In addition to beating several Division-I schools, they placed first amongst the Division-III schools.
Both Bullock and the coaches pointed out how this was the first time in the University of Redlands’ Cross Country history that five female athletes finished under 23 minutes in the 6K race. Such a performance, Bullock said, is good preparation for the upcoming Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championships and boosts the confidence she already had in their team goal of qualifying for the Nov. 23 NCAA Championships. To do this, the Bulldogs must place 1st or secure an overall pick at the NCAA West Regional Championships, which will be held at Milo McIver State Park in Estacada, Oregon, on Nov. 16.
The last meet of the regular season for the Bulldogs is tomorrow, Nov. 2, with the SCIAC Championships at Carbon Canyon Regional Park in Brea, California.
McKenzie Rose is a freshman at Redlands with interests in Environmental Studies and Journalism. She worked for the last three years as a freelance journalist with the Hermiston Herald, a newspaper near her hometown of Echo, Oregon. She is looking forward to covering the interesting, the exciting, and the intriguing happenings at the university for the Redlands Bulldog!
