Thursday, June 4, 1998
This Fell-a doesn’t fall
FEATURE: Pac-10 champion hurdler Brian Fell stands up for his
dreams on a national scale
By Donald Morrison
Daily Bruin Contributor
Track and field athlete Brian Fell is surprised he doesn’t have
a tattoo of the Olympic symbol. After all, he has the five
interlocking rings drawn on all his binders, folders and every
other little item he owns.
Yet his friends tell him not to get a tattoo because they say it
will jinx Fell’s dream of becoming an Olympian.
"My friends say if I don’t make it, it’ll be a constant
reminder," Fell said. "I tell them no because it’ll always be my
dream. A nice dream. Now, it’s turning into a goal."
Fell’s goal of representing the United States in the 2000 Summer
Olympics in Sydney, Australia, is becoming a reality.
The junior, a two-time 400-meter hurdle Pac-10 champion, has
always set goals high for himself. Later this month, Fell will
attempt to achieve two goals at one meet when he competes at the
U.S. Track and Field Championships in New Orleans, La.
Fell will compete in his main event, the 400-meter hurdles, and
hopes to run the event under 49 seconds and order to qualify for
the U.S. track team.
If Fell makes the U.S. team, he will get a chance to compete in
races in Europe and run against professional track athletes.
Fell, UCLA head coach Bob Larsen said, is one of the most
versatile athletes on the team.
Not only does he run the 400-meter hurdles, but he also runs on
the 1,600-meter and 400-meter relay team.
Fell will run the starting leg of the 400-meter relay team at
the NCAA Championships this week in Buffalo, N.Y. It will be only
his fourth time running the 400-meter relay.
"You have to give (Fell) a lot credit because he’s been
persistent," Larsen said. "He gets the maximum out of his talent.
He’s got a lot of faith in himself."
That faith has enabled Fell to become one of the best hurdlers
in the Pac-10 and one of the biggest assets to the Bruin squad.
Fell now has three Pac-10 titles under his belt; he won the
400-meter hurdles this year and was also a member of the victorious
400-meter relay team.
However, Fell has not always been a premier hurdler. He had to
prove himself as one of the best hurdlers in the Pac-10 after
suffering a hamstring injury his freshman year in 1996.Fell was
unable to compete at the Pac-10 Championships because of the
injury.
After suffering the injury Fell realized how dangerous the sport
could be.
"I hate seeing people injured on this track," Fell said. "We’re
runners and when your leg breaks or your hamstring pulls, what else
do you have?"
To help prevent injury before races, Fell asks for the help of
his mother, who passed away his freshman year before track season,
to watch over him and make sure he has a clean race.
This year, however, Fell had a clean race and won the Pac-10
Championship in a time of 50.79 seconds after leading the entire
race.
He won the 1997 400-meter hurdler Pac-10 crown in a personal
best time of 50.33 seconds, despite his claims that he’s not a good
hurdler.
"I’m the worst hurdler out there," Fell said. "I can’t hurdle. I
can run. I’m the fastest person for the first 200 or 300 meters
then I stutter over the last hurdle. If I fix my hurdling I think I
run under 49 seconds."
Fell’s desire to improve his times and hurdle techniques stem
from his biggest critic – himself.
Fell will often watch world-class 400-meter hurdlers like
Derrick Adkins and compare himself to them to figure out ways to
improve his hurdling techniques.
After concentrating on the hurdles this year, Fell said next
year he will compete in events like the 200, 400 and maybe the 100
meters.
Fell, in the 1,600-meter relay, has run 400 meter split times of
46 and 45 seconds. These times would place him in the top eight in
the conference.
Fell’s coaches believe that he is talented enough to excel in
events other than the 400 meter hurdles.
"(Fell) is my secret weapon," UCLA sprints coach John Smith
said. "He is one of the most versatile and talented people I have
on the team. A lot of people look at him and think he’s just a
hurdler, but I think he could’ve done some damage in the 100 meters
(at the Pac-10 meet)."
Coming out of Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego, Fell had
to work hard to earn recognition on a team that, in 1996, had
world-class athletes like Olympian Ato Bolden and former
All-American Gentry Bradley.
"Every time I saw (Fell) run in high school he didn’t run very
well," Larsen said. "There was some doubt. But his high school
coach said he saw something in him. (Fell) showed toward the end of
his freshman year that he would be good intermediate hurdler."
Fell had to make the biggest adjustment from high school to
collegiate running. In high school, the 300-meter hurdles was
contested instead of the 400-meter hurdles, so he had to make the
transition to the longer race.
Fell adjusted in a hurry, as two Pac-10 and two Cal-Nevada
Champion-ships can attest.
Fell hopes that by next year, he will be one of the best
hurdlers in the nation. He narrowly missed qualifying for the NCAA
Championships for the second consecutive year but hopes to return
and claim a national title.
He plans to work harder to achieve the goals that he wants to
accomplish.
And next season Fell wants to be known as a sprinter as well as
hurdler and come into the 1999 track season with a 400-meter hurdle
race already run under 49 seconds.
"Next year I’m going to do the extras even more," Fell said.
"I’m going to work on my steps in the hurdles and other little
things like stretching."
If Fell can qualify for the U.S. national team this summer, it
will be one step closer to his ultimate dream, one that is possible
if Fell chases his high goals.
"I’ve always had the dream of competing in the Olympics since I
was a little boy," Fell said. "Some people think that the Olympics
is an impossible goal. I shoot high. I don’t care. I say shoot the
biggest goal."
JAMIE SCANLON-JACOBS/Daily Bruin
Brian Fell is the Bruins’ champion hurdler and a versatile
runner.