Friday, February 13, 1998
Breaking up not hard to do for team members
WINTRACK: UCLA to split into three groups to help qualify for
championship
By A.J Cadman
and Donald Morrison
Daily Bruin Contributors
Saturday is Valentine’s Day, and the UCLA track team is breaking
up. Bruin head coach Bob Larsen says the decision to split will
benefit the members of the team.
No hearts will be broken, however, as the members will travel to
three different meets with hopes of qualifying for the indoor
national championships.
Larsen will send four members to the Butler Invitational at
Indianapolis, Ind., while assistants Art Venegas and Monte Rucker
will take 10 members to the Air Force Invitational in Colorado
Springs, Col. Pole vault coach Anthony Curran and 15 other members
will be at the outdoor Long Beach Relays at Long Beach State.
Competing at the Butler Invite will be distance runners Mark
Hauser and Mebrahtom Keflezighi and middle distance runners Michael
Granville and Jess Strutzel. Keflezighi will run the 5,000 meters,
Hauser the 3,000 meters, and Granville and Strutzel will run the
800 meters.
"There were some real good marks at this meet last year," Larsen
said. "The meet has excellent competition and real good
facilities."
Sprinters, jumpers and throwers will be 7,100 feet above sea
level at the Air Force Invite. Jim McElroy and Damian Allen will
run in the 55 meter dash. Rich Pitchford and Mel Moultry hope to
improve in the high and triple jump, respectively. Freshman
Lawrence Owusu will compete in the long jump.
Wade Tift and Travis Haynes, coming off of strong performances
last Saturday at the Los Angeles Invitational, hope to improve
their marks in the shot put. Tift and Luke Sullivan will compete in
the 35-pound weight throw. Scott Slover and Travis Majors are
entered in the pole vault.
"It’s an ideal situation for them," Larsen said of the members
going to the Air Force Invite. "It has a fast sprint track. With
the high altitude we could see some possible qualifiers."
Gerimi Burleigh will run the 110 meter high hurdles at Long
Beach and a slew of distance runners will also compete. Larsen said
the meet will give the athletes a chance to see what kind of shape
they are in.
The meets also provide a chance for the women’s team to size up
their chances in preparation for the NCAA Indoor Championships,
which are less than a month away.
Senior Nada Kawar, ranked third in the shot put on this week’s
NCAA list, will lead the women’s team at the Air Force Indoor
Invitational. Kawar, who has earned an automatic berth in the NCAA
Indoor Championships, took second in the shot put event last
weekend at the Los Angeles Indoor Invitational with a throw of 55-4
1/4.
She will be joined in the shot put competition by Seilala Sua
and Rachelle Noble. Ranked ninth and 13th in the nation
respectively, both women will attempt to earn a berth in the NCAA
Indoor Championships by throwing past the national qualifying
standard of 52-8. Sua and Noble will also be competing in the
weight throw at the Air Force Invitational.
UCLA will send a strong group to the Butler Indoor Invitational.
Deana Simmons and Kelly O’Connor will compete in the triple and
long jumps, respectively.
In the sprints, freshman Shakedia Jones will attempt to
duplicate the success she had at the Los Angeles Invitational last
weekend. Her victory in the 50 meters at the Los Angeles Sports
Arena last Saturday will be a building block for better things to
come later in the outdoor track season.
The sprint relay and distance medley teams will use the Butler
Invitational and the Long Beach Relays as a warm-up for outdoor
competition. With improved teams from USC, Oregon and the rest of
the Pac-10 conference posing a strenuous challenge, the Bruin women
will attempt to prepare themselves for the long road ahead.
The pole vault events will be the first such competition this
season for the UCLA women’s track and field team. Erica Hoernig and
Jocelyn Chase will try to vault themselves to new heights, in hopes
of making an impact later in the outdoor season. Both Hoernig, who
hopes to improve on a personal best 11-9 3/4, and Chase hope to
make a statement, as do the rest of the Bruin women this
weekend.