Friday, May 8, 1998
Bruins jump into No. 1 ranking
WOMENS TRACK: Triangular, dual-meet victories over Trojans,
Cougars give team hard-earned respect
By Alvin Cadman
Daily Bruin Contributor
The UCLA women’s track and field team finally earned the respect
they have been trying to garner all season long. May 2, at Drake
Stadium, the Bruins hosted third-ranked Brigham Young University
and fifth-ranked USC – and claimed triangular and dual-meet
victories over both.
Three-way scoring in the meet gave UCLA the victory over the
Trojans and the Cougars by the score of 91-54-49. UCLA also
defeated USC 104-50 and BYU 91-65, while USC narrowly squeezed past
BYU, 78-75.
The current TrackWire national rankings, which came out
Wednesday, have UCLA ranked No. 1 in the nation for the first time
this season. The Bruins had been trailing behind the Lady Longhorns
of Texas, the 1998 NCAA Women’s Indoor Track and Field Champions,
all season long. Texas fell to second place in this week’s poll.
The USC and BYU were tied for third on the collegiate charts after
their showdown with the Bruins, while Southern Methodist University
rounded out the top five.
Freshman Shakedia Jones had a breakout weekend for the Bruins as
she compiled a pair of wins in the 100 and 200-meter sprints,
running personal bests in both.
In the 100-meters, Jones escaped from Drake Stadium with the win
over Tori Edwards of USC, as both clocked in at 11.11 seconds.
Edwards came into the meet with a seasonal best of 11.05 seconds,
which is the fastest time of the year for any collegian. Jones’
current season and personal best places her in a two-way tie for
third on the national leader board. She will recieve an automatic
berth in the 1998 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, held
in Buffalo, N.Y.
Jones also went on to prevail in the 200-meter sprint, as she
streaked to a time of 22.84 seconds. Edwards came in as runner-up
again, with a personal best of 22.88 seconds. UCLA reaffirmed their
dominance in the meet, with junior quarter-miler Andrea Anderson
running a personal best of 23.37 seconds in her third-place finish,
earning another point for the Bruins in the triangular meet.
Anderson also blazed to her first-ever sub-52 second clocking in
her superior event, the 400-meter sprint. She stormed around the
track in what looked like one continuous blur in an incredible
51.48 seconds to capture the victory and the number-two position on
the collegiate list behind Suziann Reid of Texas. Reid clocked in
at 51.35 seconds in a meet in Austin, Texas that afternoon.
Junior Joanna Hayes won the 100-meter hurdles last Saturday in
only her second race of the season. When the race was said and
done, Hayes found herself with an amazing time of 12.93 seconds and
a number-two ranking nationally. She also won the 400-meter hurdles
with a time of 57.09 seconds, placing her third on the collegiate
list. Hayes earned two automatic qualifying times for the NCAA
Outdoors in one weekend and helped UCLA capture the "Best Track
Program in Los Angeles for 1998" label – as well as the United
States for that matter.
The Bruins and the Trojans split a pair of track-blazing relays
last Saturday afternoon. UCLA captured the 4×100-meter relay in
43.49 seconds, good for a ranking of third collegiately, while USC
ran a time of 43.71 seconds, earning them the fourth spot on the
collegiate list. The Women of Troy fought back in the 4×400-meter
relay, winning with a time of 3:31.66 to UCLA’s 3:33.27. USC came
to the meet with a season best of 3:31.29 and a No. 3 ranking in
the nation.
Senior Rachelle Noble, UCLA’s most versatile thrower, had a long
day at the office on Saturday afternoon. She was second in the
hammer with a mark of 186-11. She would go on to rack up a
third-place finish in the javelin at a measurement of 162-7, a
fourth place mark in the shot at 53-5, a third place mark of 180-8
in the discus and a victory in the 20-pound weight throw (at 64-3
1/4). And just when one would think it is time to pack up and go
home after a long day like that, Noble notched a personal best in
the women’s high jump at 5-4 1/4.
The Bruin women will split squads this weekend at evening venues
on the West Coast. The Modesto Invitational could display a sense
of deja vu for senior Suzy Powell, who returns to her hometown,
where she established a collegiate record in the women’s discus
with a record throw of 214-0 last year. The Occidental Invitational
in Eagle Rock, Calif., and the Oregon Twilight in Eugene, Ore., are
evening meets – the first of this variety for the Bruins this
season. They are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. PST. This will create
a new environment for the top-ranked women’s track program in all
the land to showcase their wide array of talent and dominance
before the Pac-10 Championships, held in Palo Alto in two
weeks.
MARY CIECEK
Rachelle Nobel throws the shot put at the UCLA-USC-BYU
competition.