Friday, May 22, 1998
Bruins leap into first place in polls
PAC10S: UCLA ready to showcase talents at Pac-10
Championships
By Alvin Cadman
Daily Bruin Contributor
The UCLA women’s track and field team took over the top spot two
weeks ago in Trackwire’s Top 25 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field
rankings from previous No. 1 Texas.
Last week, with the help of an inspiring performance by
sophomore discus thrower Seilala Sua, the Bruins increased their
lead in the polls over the Longhorns, as they hope to bring home
their first NCAA Women’s Track and Field Outdoor Championship under
head coach Jeannette Bolden.
Sua’s victory over a competitive field at the Modesto
Invitational jumped her up to the No. 1 position in Trackwire’s
power ranking of the women’s discus. She holds the third-best
throwing mark on the collegiate list, behind Washington’s Aretha
Hill and UCLA teammate Suzy Powell. The pressure of throwing in
Powell’s backyard of Modesto made Sua’s accomplishments there even
more impressive.
The best throw from the Cooper City, Fla. native landed on the
grass at the 212-2 mark, defeating runner-up Powell, the next best
competitor in this perennial Outdoor All-American field, by over 15
feet. The first two throws by Sua, the defending national champion
in the event, seemed to eliminate all doubt of who would prevail in
a field that consisted of four of the top five throwers on this
year’s collegiate list.
Sua is not only deadly at the discus, however, as she proved
this week in Salinas. With a shot put throw of 57-9, she set a
personal best, and moved into third place in UCLA history.
"I know I can do so much better," Sua said. "I’m shooting for an
American record in the discus. That’s such a big deal for me right
now."
With her performance two weeks ago, Sua became the second Bruin
in a row to win Trackwire’s Athlete of the Week honor for women.
Freshman teammate Shakedia Jones won the award for the prior
weekend with her phenomenal sprinting showcase at the UCLA-USC-BYU
triangular meet.
This weekend, the Bruins will travel to Northern California to
compete at the Pac-10 championships, hosted by Stanford in Palo
Alto. The Bruins are predicted to fare well in most events and
should win their fourth Pac-10 title in five years under Coach
Bolden.
In the 100 meters, freshman Jones is tied at the top of the
Pac-10 list with USC’s Torri Edwards with a time of 11.11 seconds.
Junior All-American Andrea Anderson (11.60), freshman Michelle
Perry (11.70), senior Bisa Grant (11.91) and sophomore Tamar
Cherebin (11.95) have also qualified in the event, and hope to gain
more points for the Bruins.
In the 200 meters, Jones’ top Pac-10 time of 22.84 seconds
battles Edwards’ impressive top qualifying time of 22.88 seconds.
Jones and Edwards are both automatically qualified in the 100 and
200 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, to be
held June 3-6 in Buffalo, N.Y. Anderson is ranked third in the
Pac-10 with a time of 23.37 seconds. She holds the top mark in the
Pac-10’s 400-meter event with a time of 51.48 seconds, along with
an automatic berth to the NCAAs.
In the 100-meter hurdles, Joanna Hayes has also earned an NCAA
Outdoor automatic spot and is at the top of the Pac-10 charts with
a time of 12.93 seconds. Hayes also duplicated a similar feat in
the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 57.09 seconds. Grant is third
in the Pac-10, with a 100-meter hurdle time of 13.37 seconds. Perry
is fifth in the Pac-10 with a 100-meter hurdle mark of 13.55
seconds. She holds the same ranking in the 400-meter hurdles with a
time of 58.66 seconds.
Deana Simmons will lead a jumping corps that will be sure to
bring in points for the Bruins at the Pac-10’s. She is second in
the conference in the long jump (19-10), and at the top in the
triple jump (43-7), which assures her of a spot at the NCAA
Outdoors.
The Bruin throwing crew, consisting of Rachelle Noble, Powell,
Nada Kawar and Sua, has been producing the marks necessary to push
UCLA to the top spot in the nation all year long. These four women
should have a relatively easy time of sweeping the shot put,
discus, hammer throw and javelin events, with only Washington’s
Hill posing any threat of stealing a point from this dominant Bruin
women’s squad.
DERRICK KUDO/Daily Bruin
Jocelyn Chase competes in the high jump during a meet at Drake
stadium earlier this year.