Friday, April 10, 1998
Runners right on track at meet
WTRACK: UCLA turns in record throws, finishes third at Texas
Relays
By Alvin Cadman
Daily Bruin Contributor
Not every athlete on the UCLA women’s track and field team was
on spring break last week. Yet those that were not still basked in
the sun and warmth at the Texas Relays last weekend. Hosted by the
University of Texas Longhorns, NCAA women’s indoor track and field
champions, this prestigious meet has been held since 1925.
On April 2, the UCLA women took third in the finals of the 4×800
meter relay with a time of 8:51.74. The Lady Cougars from Brigham
Young University cruised to victory, almost 8 seconds ahead of
second place University of Texas El Paso.
Later in the afternoon, Rachelle Noble and Seilala Sua took
fourth and fifth place, respectively, in the finals of the women’s
hammer throw. Both had top throws for the season, with Noble
throwing 199-0 and Sua a fraction shorter, with a throw of 189-5.
Those results were good enough to become the top two throws in UCLA
women’s track and field history. The rest of the field was
overmatched by BYU’s Amy Palmer, who outthrew runner-up Dawn
Ellerbee by over 17 feet.
On Friday, the UCLA women were entered in the 4×100 meter relay.
The Bruins won their heat in a time of 44.61 seconds. Later in the
day, they took third place in the final of the event with a time of
43.85 seconds, two-hundreths of a second behind second-place Texas
Christian and less than four-tenths of a second away from
victorious Texas.
In the women’s 4×400 meter relay, UCLA won their heat with a
time of 3:37.86 and nearly duplicated it in the final with a finish
of 3:37.79 This earned them third place behind Baylor and Texas,
which were separated by nine-hundreths of a second at the
finish.
Katie Nuane of UCLA took 12th in the finals of the women’s 1,500
meter run. The race marked a personal best for the freshman, who
finished with a time of 4:49.40. In the women’s 5,000 meter final
on Friday afternoon, Julie Ott took fifth place, and Melinda George
took eighth place. Their times of 17:02.47 and 17:18.96,
respectively, were personal bests and exhibit the depth of the UCLA
women’s distance corps.
The women’s shot put showcased the dominance, depth and
versatility that UCLA’s throwing trio of Nada Kawar, Sua and Noble
possess over the rest of their competitors.
Kawar won the event with a throw of 57-2 1/4. BYU’s Amy Palmer
took second ahead of Sua, who had a top throw of 54-8. Noble took
sixth with a throw of 50-9 1/4 after competing in the women’s
hammer throw the day before. Palmer is the sole competitor that has
provided the Bruin women any consistent challenge in the throwing
events this season.
UCLA took four of the top five spots in the finals of the
women’s discus throw. Suzy Powell narrowly grasped the victory with
a throw of 189-10 over her teammate Seilala Sua’s throw of 189-5.
Noble and Kawar took third and fifth to round out the top five in
the women’s discus throw.
This weekend, the UCLA women’s track and field team host their
third of four home meets this season. Houston, Cal State Northridge
and Minnesota travel to Drake Stadium with running events beginning
at 1 p.m.DERRICK KUDO/Daily Bruin
Cicely Scott (left) passes the baton off to Damesha Craig during
a meet earlier this year.