Friday, February 6, 1998
L.A. Invitational beckons elite athletes
TRACK: UCLA team hopes to size up professional, collegiate
competition while garnering awards of their own
By Alvin Cadman and Donald Morrison
Daily Bruin Contributors
It’s been almost two whole years since the Los Angeles
Invitational Indoor Track & Field Meet was held. The meet,
formerly known as the Sunkist Invite, was canceled last year due to
lack of sponsorships.
However, the meet refuses to roll over and play dead as Saturday
marks the return of the invitational for the 38th time at the Los
Angeles Sports Arena.
High school, collegiate and world-class athletes will compete at
the all-day meet, including current and former UCLA athletes.
"At this meet, we’ll get an idea of what kind of shape the
athletes are in," UCLA assistant coach Art Venegas said.
John Godina, two-time world champion and former Bruin will find
out what kind of shape he’s in when he competes in the shot
put.
Current Bruins Wade Tift and Travis Haynes will compete against
Godina in the shot put. Haynes finished fourth in the nation at the
NCAA Indoor Meet in 1997. Venegas is looking forward to seeing both
Haynes and Tift compete early in the season.
"He’s a gamer and an athlete," Venegas said of Haynes. "(Haynes)
will be ready for nationals and could be a factor. (Tift) is in the
best strength shape on the team. He’s looking good."
Headlining the distance corps for UCLA will be four-time NCAA
Champion, Mebrahtom Keflezighi. Keflezighi will compete in the 3000
meters along with teammate Mark Hauser. Football players Jim
McElroy and Damian Allen will run in the 50-meter dash along with
teammate Jacob Glickman. Gerimi Burleigh will run in the 50-meter
hurdles while an improving Mel Moultry will be in the triple
jump.
Scott Slover will compete in the pole vault, and Jess Strutzel
will run in the 880-yard race while Michael Granville competes in
the 500 meters.
"I don’t think we’ll see any really fast times this early in the
season," head coach Bob Larsen said. "Times will be slower at the
L.A. meet because it’s early in the season and the track is
short."
The women’s team will be led by senior Nada Kawar, who earned
1997 All-American outdoor honors and is currently ranked third in
the nation in the shot put. She will be joined by Seilala Sua, who
as a true freshman last year won the NCAA discus title.
Sua is ranked ninth in the nation in the shot put. Also
competing in the shot put will be senior Rachelle Noble who is
ranked 15th in the country in the event. Noble earned NCAA Outdoor
All-American honors in the discus and hammer last year.
In the sprints, UCLA will feature freshman Shakedia Jones in the
50 meters. Ranked fourth on the nation’s prep list last year and
11th in the nation in the 200-meters this year, Jones will be
UCLA’s only entry on the track.
The Bruins will have four entries in the women’s long jump on
Saturday afternoon. Junior Keisha Porter, who took sixth in the
long jump at the 1997 Pac-10 Championships will compete, along with
sophomores Deana Simmons, the 1997 U.S. Junior triple jump
champion, and Kelly O’Connor,who took sixth in the long jump at the
1997 Pac-10 meet.
Porter, Simmons, O’Connor and junior Renee Emery hope to follow
in the footsteps of former Bruins Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Gail
Devers, who starred in the long jump event at past Los Angeles
Invitationals.
AARON TOUT/Daily Bruin
Mebrahtom Keflezighi will participate in the indoor L.A.
Invitational track meet this weekend.