UC Santa Cruz opened in 1965 and quickly developed a reputation as the unconventional, somewhat quirky child of the UC campus family. The student body never cared much for traditional sports, but when they, at long last, joined the NCAA in 1980, they needed an official mascot. The laid-back student body eschewed the hyper aggressive, war mongering mascots of the collegiate sports world, and chose instead the fat, slimy, slow-moving gastropod native to the redwood forests around Santa Cruz: The Banana Slug. The administration was not amused. They insisted on a more dignified mascot and chose instead “The Sea Lions.”
Thus began one of the greatest Student vs. Admin battles in UC history. The students hated the name, feeling it did not represent their peculiar, idiosyncratic, counter-culture identity, and continued to embrace their gooey, neon yellow, shell-less mollusk. The Admin, in 1985, decided to pit the Sea Lions against the Banana Slugs in a student vote, assuming the majority of the student body would reject the squishy slug in favor of the barking lion. The vote was a landslide in favor of the creepy-crawling critter, and in 1992 Sports Illustrated named UCSC’s Banana Slug the “Best College Mascot” in the nation!
I begin with this necessary preamble so all can appreciate how four brave SPARTANS (and one SPARTAN bandit) got shelled and slimed as they slugged it out in
the 24th Annual Santa Cruz XC Challenge. What started out as a promising showing of the few remaining SPARTANS for this PA/USA XC Grand Prix opener was soon
depleted by injury and illness. Albert is plagued with a continuing foot injury, Lino and Brian cannot withstand the punishment the rocky hills the SC course inflicts, and Nick was slammed with his first case of Covid. Because Nick had already paid the registration fee, Norberto was recruited to run with his bib number and check out the XC scene (in hopes of becoming a future SPARTAN). The SPARTANS would not have a 60s team without Nick, Brian, and Albert, so Norberto’s bandit run would not affect the team results. The SPARTANS did get a burst of inspiration when they learned that Don would journey down for the race and toe-the-line with the aging SPARTANS.
-Kurt Gravenhorst