Tuesday, May 26, 1998
Elizondo sets pace to crown
MEN’S TRACK: Bruins claim Pac-10 championships after fiery,
spirited start
By Donald Morrison
Daily Bruin Contributor
PALO ALTO — Devin Elizondo gave the No. 9 UCLA men’s track and
field team momentum on Saturday at the Pacific-10 Conference
Championships. And on Sunday, the 400-meter relay team picked it up
and gave the Bruins the boost they needed to claim another Pac-10
crown.
This one is UCLA’s sixth conference title in the past seven
years and the team’s ninth in 12 years.
"Every time you win it’s special," UCLA sprints coach John Smith
said.
The Bruins won the meet with 135.5 points. The Trojans finished
second with115 points and Arizona placed third with 111 points,
followed by Washington St. (103) points and Oregon (96.5).
"It’s special in a way because we got beat last year after
winning five (titles) in a row," UCLA head coach Bob Larsen said.
"We were a little complacent last year. That wasn’t going to happen
this year. We were really going to compete."
UCLA did compete. The Bruins pulled away from the rest of the
Pac-10 on Sunday after most people predicted an extremely close
meet between UCLA, USC and Arizona.
The first race on the track set the tone for UCLA. Elizondo came
into the meet ranked ninth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. But
Elizondo, running his last race in a Bruin uniform, took off and
placed third with a personal best time of 8:56.75.
"I just wanted to start the meet off on a good note for the rest
of the guys," Elizondo said. "I talked to a bunch of the guys and
it got them fired up because I wasn’t expected to do anything. I
hope it sparked some people."
Elizondo’s performance might have sparked Scott Slover’s
performance in the pole vault. Entering the meet as the favorite,
Slover lived up to his billing by claiming his second Pac-10 title.
Slover vaulted 18-2 1/2 and, since he had fewer missed attempts
than runner-up Arizona’s Dominic Johnson, won.
"You never know if you’re going to win for sure or not with
competition like it was today," Slover said.
No one knew what was going to happen to the UCLA sprint corps on
Sunday. The Bruins surprised the crowd and USC, the favorite to
dominate the sprints. The Bruins started Sunday by pulling off an
upset win over the USC in the 400-meter relay.
Without Akil Davis and usual second leg runner Bryan Harrison,
who were both injured, the Bruins put in Brandon Thomas and Brian
Fell. Fell started and grabbed the early lead for UCLA and handed
off to Thomas who maintained the UCLA advantage.
Damian Allen and Jim McElroy held the lead to give UCLA a season
best time of 39.52 seconds, ranking the Bruins sixth in the nation.
USC finished second in 39.57 seconds.
Fell also defended his title in the 400 hurdles with a time of
50.79 seconds.
"It means a lot (to defend my title)," Fell said. "It means that
a full year of hard work is paying off."
In the sprints, hurdles and relays, UCLA scored 52 of its 135.5
points.
"After the USC meet I was kind of upset because I know how (the
sprinters) can compete and they didn’t show up that day," Smith
said. "Today they showed up. I’m proud of them."
Senior Mel Moultry, with only one jump left in the triple jump,
leaped and fell into the sandpit. His mark of 52-2 1/2 earned him
his first Pac-10 title.
"My workouts have been incredible the past two weeks," Moultry
said. "I felt pressure but my team needed me."