Track teams open season on the Bayou
By Tim Costner
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The UCLA track program will send seven athletes  five men
and two women  to Lousiana State this Saturday for the LSU
Indoor Meet.
And while seven athletes may not seem like a very large
contingent, it is still one that could accomplish some very large
goals.
In just the first meet of the season, national records are about
to fall on the women’s side, with shotputters Dawn Dumble and
Valeyta Althouse hoping to rewrite the NCAA record books.
"The women are in tremendous shape right now in the shot," UCLA
throwing coach Art Venegas said. "The national record is in severe
jeopardy with Valeyta and Dawn. It could go any time. They’re ready
and they’re really in good shape. They’re the class of the
field."
The women’s shotput record currently stands at 62-3 3/4.
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On the men’s side, shotputters John Godina, Jonathan Ogden and
Mark Parlin will try to open the indoor season with automatic
qualifying marks for the NCAA Indoor Championships in March.
For Godina, hitting an auto-qualifying mark should be, well,
automatic. Even as the defending Indoor champion, Godina  who
has labeled himself "weak" in the past  has finally avoided
injuries long enough to increase his strength.
"I’m throwing really well right now," Godina said. "I’ve finally
been able to get into a groove and my strength is almost where it
needs to be. Over the summer I’ve avoided the exercises that have
caused me problems. Some of the things I leave out are what some
people think you have to do to get strong, but there’s no real way
to get strong when you keep getting hurt. I just do what I
can."
This Saturday, Godina hopes to top his personal best in the
shot, and could beat his old mark of 65-8 3/4 by one or two feet,
though the senior doesn’t want to make any guarantees.
"As long as I can just PR in this meet, then I’ll set myself up
for a really good year," Godina said.
Rounding out the field of men who are headed to Baton Rouge this
weekend are high jumper Avery Anderson and 35-pound weight thrower
Greg Hodel.